The UK Government initiated a debate in Parliament on slavery in light of the 2004 as the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition and the 2007 bicentenary of Britain's abolition of the slave trade.

The 14 October session drew attention to the Slave Trade's legacy and slavery today. Throughout, Anti-Slavery International was recognised as a force both in historical and contemporary slavery.

The Government pledged "a commemoration that does justice to the issue," Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department Fiona Mactaggart said. "It might take the form of a day, or of doing something enormous for the bicentenary .… I am not convinced that the history of slavery should be only in the history curriculum; it should be in the citizenship curriculum to mark the fact that people can be turned into commodities and how degrading that is … the fact that slavery still happens should touch the humanity of us all …. I make a commitment to ensuring that by 2007, we will have a clear view of how the memorial should best be made."