Home secretary Suella Braverman warned by ex-prime minister Theresa May of migration 'loopholes'

The Fareham MP has been told by Theresa May, who was prime minister from 2016 to 2019, unintended consequences in her attempts with current PM Rishi Sunak to prevent the rules being exploited. Ms Braverman has claimed the laws are being ‘abused by people gaming the system’ to stay in the UK when they would otherwise face being deported.

The Modern Slavery Act was introduced by Mrs May during her time as home secretary in order to protect vulnerable people from exploitation, domestic servitude or being trafficked for sex.

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Mrs May told BBC Radio: ‘We need to ensure we don’t reduce our world-leading protections for victims of modern slavery. It’s important not – inadvertently – to create another potential loophole.

‘If you’re somebody who’s been trafficked here as a sex slave, and you manage to find your way out of that and look to somebody for help, the chances are you probably haven’t got a piece of paper or a written statement from somebody to say ‘you’ve been in slavery’. The evidence comes gradually.

‘If you are somebody who is being brought by a criminal gang who are abusing the system, and they know there needs to be a piece of paper, they probably will provide a piece of paper.’

Ministers are also working to tighten immigration rules to curb numbers coming to the country legally.

Home secretary Suella Braverman has drawn up a plan that would target foreign students, make it harder to bring spouses to the UK, and increase the minimum salaries for companies employing skilled workers, The Times reported.

Under a draft of the proposals, seen by the newspaper, the government would increase the minimum income threshold for British citizens applying for a family visa.

Currently, a couple must earn at least £18,600 and may need thousands more for any children they seek to bring to the UK.

The plans could also make it harder for overseas students to bring dependants with them.