Cost-of-living crisis fuelling record levels of slavery in Britain, watchdog warns

The cost-of-living crisis is fuelling record levels of slavery across Britain, a leading watchdog has warned.

The independent anti-slavery commissioner (IASC) released a report on Monday, which revealed that over 23,000 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the monitoring group in 2025 - the highest number ever recorded.

The report revealed a 22 per cent increase from the previous year, and warned that people trafficking, forced labour and sexual exploitation could become harder to detect unless urgent action is taken.

While more than a fifth of potential victims were from the UK, 13 per cent were found to be from Eritrea - representing the second largest group - and nine per cent were from Vietnam.

The report also warned that artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms had become a "force multiplier" for criminal trafficking gangs.

It noted that "social media, encrypted services, and commercial platforms" were being used to exploit victims through online grooming and pop-up brothels, with sexual exploitation of girls in Britain rising 54 per cent in the last five years.

Eleanor Lyons, who was appointed IASC in October 2023, said the report highlighted "how exploitation is increasingly affecting people within the UK".

She said: "The most harrowing forms of exploitation are becoming more widespread in this country and evolving faster than we can respond.

"It will spread further and become harder to stop unless we act now."

The report highlighted a number of potential threats driving people into modern slavery and human trafficking.

"Hidden-economy labour exploitation" was identified as a key risk, with particular focus placed on UK nail bars allegedly linked to organised criminal gangs in Vietnam.

Another major threat was economic pressure, with rising living costs, debt and insecure work all cited as factors creating the conditions for modern slavery.

LATEST POLITICS:

• 'Nothing Labour won't tax!' British public overwhelmingly against HMRC raid on holidays
• Welfare pays more than work for 600,000 households in Britain as critics slam £155bn benefits budget
• More than half of Muslims would vote for pro-Gaza independents to stop Labour winning, poll reveals

It also presented a number of scenarios, which it describes as "plausible and evidence-based descriptions of how exploitation risks could develop".

One scenario presented a world where "strong enforcement and tight regulation" created the "appearance of control, even as exploitation adapts into harder-to-detect spaces".

It warns that modern slavery would move into more private spaces, such as less accessible parts of the internet and "communities that already have low trust in authorities".

In this scenario, the IASC concludes that "investing more money in law enforcement alone is not enough", and a wider "cultural change" is needed for better outcomes.

Ms Lyons said the UK's response to modern slavery was "not keeping with the scale and complexity of the threat" and called on the government to introduce a number of mitigations across the Foreign Office, Home Office, Police, Ministry of Justice, HMRC, and a number of other public bodies.

She added: "Behind these numbers are real people being abused in ways most of us would struggle to imagine, whether it's women forced into the sex trade, children coerced into drug gangs, or workers trapped in brutal conditions with no way out, often living in absolute fear."

The report proposes a series of mitigations against the increase of modern slavery, including further funding and training for specialist police units and fines for businesses found to have breached anti-exploitation rules.

The Modern Slavery Act was introduced in 2015 and brought together existing anti-exploitation offences into law.

It also introduced a new defence for victims of slavery and trafficking who have been forced to break the law

A Home Office spokesman said: "Modern slavery is a global scourge that abuses and exploits people for profit.

"We are committed to reviewing the modern slavery system to reduce opportunities for misuse of the system, whilst also ensuring that we have the right protections for those who need it.

"We are working with brave survivors to inform policy development and improve the process of identifying victims.

"We have also taken immediate action to reduce the backlog of cases, ensuring victims get swift decisions and the support they need to rebuild their lives."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter