Forced labour ban to be ditched in race to net zero

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