The government is facing defeat next week over a move to guarantee that companies using forced labour do not drive the UK’s green energy transition.
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have thrown their weight behind an amendment by the cross-bench peer David Alton to the GB Energy bill, which is making its way through the House of Lords.
The amendment seeks to stop public money from being spent by GB Energy on solar panels and other materials where there is “credible evidence of modern slavery” in supply chains.
China dominates the solar energy market and between 35% and 40% of polysilicon, the key raw material for solar panels, is produced in Xinjiang where the Muslim Uyghur population has been subject to arbitrary detention and forced labour.
Alton’s amendment is signed by Helena Kennedy, the Labour peer and barrister, and Malcolm Offord, the Conservative shadow energy minister. A Liberal Democrat source said the party was likely to support the amendment.
Government figures conceded that as things stand, the amendment is likely to pass when Alton pushes it to a vote next week. “If the Tories pull the stops out to get a decent number of peers out and Lib Dems get theirs together, they can muster quite a big number,” a Labour source said.
This would trigger a process known as parliamentary ping-pong, with the bill sent back to the Commons to consider the Lords’ changes. It could put Labour MPs in the uncomfortable position where they are whipped to strip out an amendment intended to combat modern slavery.
Alton said his amendment was designed “to ensure that our race to net zero doesn’t leave our modern slavery commitments in tatters”.
“We cannot have a situation where one department is required to eradicate slavery from supply chains while another depends upon it entirely. This amendment will ensure that no public money can be used to prop up the Chinese Communist party’s industry of slavery, and that our green transition is one that has due respect for human rights.”
Labour took a robust stance on this issue in opposition. It backed moves to declare China’s actions in Xinjiang genocide and to block trade deals with countries found by UK courts to have committed genocide. The party has softened its position since entering government and sought to build closer economic ties with Beijing.
Some Labour backbenchers, however, could rebel if Alton’s amendment is voted on in the Commons.
Sarah Champion, the Labour MP and chair of the international development committee, proposed an amendment in the Commons in October to make respect for human rights one of the core objects of GB Energy.
“I’m gravely concerned that without sufficient safeguards in place, we will run the risk of transitioning to net zero on the backs of those in slavery,” Champion said. “We need to see clear intent that modern slavery cannot make up any part of GB Energy supply chains.
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“This can be best achieved through a forced labour import ban, like the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act in the United States. I know there is significant cross-party support for this.”
Alton, Kennedy and Champion are all members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), which campaigns for a tougher stance towards Beijing.
Luke de Pulford, the executive director of IPAC, said: “No MP wants to have to explain to their constituents why they voted in favour of funding slave-made renewables. Given the very strong stand taken by Labour in opposition regarding Uyghurs, many will be profoundly dismayed at being asked to vote down this reasonable amendment. We can expect to see plenty of rebels.”
Meanwhile UK regulators are considering a mooted stock market listing by Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion company, amid concerns about forced labour in its supply chains. Stop Uyghur Genocide, a campaign group, has launched a judicial process to block any initial public offering (IPO) by Shein. The company has said it strictly prohibits forced labour.
Liam Byrne, the Labour chair of the business select committee, has been corresponding with regulators about the safeguards and legal checks for companies hoping to list on the London Stock Exchange. He said the UK needed to strengthen its laws to combat modern slavery.
“We must now upgrade our Modern Slavery Act to impose a tougher requirement on major firms to assure us there they’re taking a zero tolerance approach to forced labour. Both the US and the EU are taking these steps,” Byrne said. “So there’s now a real risk that the country that led the abolition of slavery has second-class protection against this appalling abuse.”