Sarah Champion MP pushes the Government to do more to stop slavery, ahead of key vote on GB Energy next week

Sarah Champion MP is leading a campaign to ensure public money is not spent on slave-made renewables. On 25th March, the House of Commons will debate and vote on the Great British Energy (GBE) Bill, ahead of it reaching Royal Assent.

Sarah has tabled an amendment to the Bill, which would put the onus on GBE companies to prove their supply chains do not contain forced labour. Where companies cannot provide adequate proof, they will not be given access to taxpayer money.

This follows Sarah’s campaigning last year, which led to the Energy Secretary agreeing to involve civil society and trade unions in the development of resilient and ethical supply chains. [1]

Her current focus is to see the Government setting clear plans to rid GBE’s supply chains of state-imposed forced labour, particularly the abuse of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Region.

To achieve this, she’s asking the Energy Secretary to establish a cross-ministerial taskforce on forced labour, as well as using the Debarment List to prevent offending companies from accessing public contracts.

Commenting, Sarah Champion MP said:

“If companies want to benefit from taxpayer money, they must be able to prove that their supply chains are free of forced labour. The public is owed that much.

For too many years, tackling modern slavery has received a siloed, disjointed response from Government. Meanwhile the UK has become a dumping ground for renewables made with forced labour.

To turn this around, we need to see genuine cross-government working, as well as proper consequences for those who do the wrong thing and profit off exploitation.

I know the Government cares about a just transition to green energy. Ahead of the Commons voting on GBE next week, we need assurances from the Government about how it will resolve the issue of slavery in our supply chains. Vague promises and platitudes are simply not enough - we need determined resolve.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

[1] 29 October Sarah Champion MP Report Stage Speech | GB Energy