More Than 50 Conservative MPs Demand Change to UK Modern Slavery Law

Detainees inside the Manston short-term holding centre for illegal immigrants wave to members of the media outside, near Ramsgate, Kent, southeast England, on Nov. 3, 2022. Daniel Leal /AFP via Getty Images

More than 50 Conservative MPs have signed a letter to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak demanding emergency legislation be introduced to amend modern slavery laws which they say are being abused by illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The English Channel crossings are a “Gordian Knot that needs cutting with a simple policy,” according to the letter, which was organised by former Brexit secretary David Davis.