The UK Parliament debated the Great British Energy Bill, focusing on the ethical implications of solar panel supply chains potentially linked to modern slavery in China’s Xinjiang region. Proposed amendments sought to ensure public funding for energy projects does not support forced labour, yet the government resisted, citing existing procurement laws as sufficient. MPs like Sir Iain Duncan Smith criticized the legal barriers preventing accountability for companies using forced labour, emphasizing the need for greater ethical scrutiny in the clean energy transition.
The Minister will know full well that the Procurement Act can only be enacted once a supplier has had a conviction under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act. To do that, proceedings have to be taken against the company involved in slavery. A British company cannot do that - it would have to get the Chinese Government to prosecute a Chinese company. That is never going to happen.
It is imperative that we ensure that the materials powering the UK's transition to clean energy are not tainted by modern slavery in any way, shape, or form.
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