The first event in the newly launched Darwin Erasmus Seminar Series took place last night, Wednesday 23rd November. Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU Law and Employment Law, and a Fellow of Trinity College, discussed her research into the working conditions of EU migrants employed in UK food production, in a talk entitled What happens when enforcement doesn’t happen: Brexit, free movement and … Great Yarmouth.

Described by the Master, Dr Mike Rands, in his introduction as "a wonderful voice of reason and clarity during the Brexit turmoil", Professor Barnard gave a vivid introduction to a world of work many would prefer not to think about. She described how successive waves of immigration to Great Yarmouth have created Portuguese, Polish and Romanian enclaves frequently exploited by employers, and explored why workers so rarely engage with the law to uphold their rights. 

Dr Rands stated that he hoped the series would "draw on Darwin's inter-disciplinarity, and its international outlook, to examine global challenges." The College is enormously grateful to Professor Barnard for fulfilling that ambition so successfully in this inaugural seminar.