Should the race to net zero come at any cost? Ed Miliband’s crowd appears to think so. The Energy Security Secretary will overturn a ban on forced labour to further his zero carbon ambitions, it transpires, as today the government will whip its parliamentarians to vote down an amendment that would prevent eco-friendly materials being purchased by the government from supply chains relying on ‘modern slavery’. How noble…
As Mr S wrote in January, Lord Alton of Liverpool tabled an amendment to stop money being spent by state-owned GB Energy on solar panels, among other green materials, from places where there exists ‘credible evidence of modern slavery’. As reported by the Times, and as conceded by Miliband himself, a number of Britain’s solar panels come from China. The nation’s Xinjiang region produces between 35 to 40 per cent of the world’s polyester – a crucial component for the tech – but it is in this area that more than 2.5 million people have been, er, subjected to forced labour in detention camps. Yet while the House of Lords voted in favour of Lord Alton’s amendment – by 175 to 125 votes in February – the government is keen to push back against it today. Good heavens.
Labour ministers insist there are already measures in place to identify slavery in GB Energy’s supply chain – and are adamant that a solar taskforce chaired by the Net Zero Secretary will tackle the issue. A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero noted: ‘No industry in the UK should rely on forced labour, and through GB Energy we have a clear plan to build the supply chains needed to support a new era of clean homegrown power.’ Not that Alton has been left much impressed by that. The peer has echoed the concerns of human rights groups about widespread forced labour in Xinjiang, remarking scornfully about the Labour lot’s excuses:
It is absurd for the UK to suggest you can build a ‘just climate transition’ on the backs of slave labour. It is a dirty business when clean energy puts British taxpayers’ money into CCP pockets – powering up the economy of a hostile state.
Strong stuff. So much for Labour being the party of the workers, eh?
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