By Paul Homewood
That latest Miliband lie did not take long to unravel then!
The first schools in England to install what the government described as “Great British Energy solar panels” bought them from Chinese firms, the BBC has learned.
The first 11 schools involved in the GB Energy scheme bought solar panels from Aiko and Longi, two Chinese firms.
The government said the scheme was “the first major project for Great British Energy – a company owned by the British people, for the British people”.
Labour MP Sarah Champion said GB Energy should be buying solar panels from companies in the UK rather than China, where there have been allegations of forced labour in supply chains.
“I’m really excited about the principle of GB Energy,” she told BBC News.
“But it’s taxpayers’ money and we should not be supporting slave labour with that money. And wherever possible, we should be supporting good working practices and buy British if we can.”
She added: “That means that yes, unfortunately, in the short term, solar panels are probably going to be slightly more expensive.
“There are solar panels made around the world in Taiwan, Canada, even in the UK.”
Longi and Aiko both told the BBC they forbid forced labour in their production and supply chains.
China is the world’s leading producer of solar panels and the suppliers in the Xinjiang region have been linked to the alleged exploitation of Uyghur Muslims.
Earlier this year, the law was changed to ban GB Energy from investing in renewables if there is evidence of modern slavery in their production.
China has dominated the market and, according to the International Energy Agency, the country’s global share in all the manufacturing stages of solar panels exceeds 80%.
Champion, who is chair of the International Development Select Committee, said “abuse in renewable supply chains is insidious and hard to root out”.
But she urged ministers to exclude known human-rights offenders from winning public contracts.
A GB Energy spokesperson said all of the solar contracts issued under the schools initiative complied with the UK’s modern slavery rules.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1lj21pjn72o
Ed Miliband promised no solar panels from Chinese slave labour. Just because China says these ones did not use slave labour does not actually mean they are telling the truth.
But of course Miliband knew that all along, did not he?
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Author: Paul Homewood
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