The US and EU are passing laws to ban solar panels produced as a result of the forced labour endured by Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang. The UK must do the same or risk transitioning to clean energy built upon modern day slavery. We have a moral obligation to join our international partners in standing up to abhorrent discrimination imposed by the Chinese state on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and throughout China. A green transition cannot be built on the back of slavery.

This week, I held the Government to account over this issue, urging them to fight against forced labour by joining partners in refusing to purchase solar panels made by forced labour. If the UK decides not to, not only will we be complicit in modern day slavery, but we will be morally isolated amongst our international partners, and we will be shamed for doing so.

This country should hold every other country to the same moral standards that we would expect at home. Not only do we have an ethical duty to stand up to violations of global human rights, but by not doing so, many UK companies will be jeopardised in their pursuit to prevent modern slavery by turning a blind eye to violations that are occurring beyond our shores. We cannot allow this to happen in China or any other nation.

We need a green transition, but that transition must be just. If we do not join our American and European partners in their condemnation and outright rejection of solar panels built upon slave labour, the UK’s green transition will never be just. The right to a healthy environment is a universal human right and so too is the right to not be in forced labour, the two go hand in hand. The rejection of forced labour in our green transition is mandatory.

You can watch my intervention in the House of Commons here, or read the transcript here.