Ed Miliband has confirmed GB Energy will not use solar panels linked to slave labour in China.
The energy minister is to introduce an amendment to legislation around the state-owned GB Energy which, in a significant policy reversal, will force the company to ensure “slavery and human trafficking is not taking place” in its supply chain, The Times reports.
This means solar panels, wind turbines and batteries used by GB Energy cannot contain any component believed to have been produced through the use of slave labour.
This is significant because a large proportion of the world's polysilicon supply originates from the Xinjiang region of China where there are suspected human rights abuses related to the Uighur population.
The policy change could threaten the government's net zero ambitions.
The amendment to legislation comes after some Labour MPs broke party lines to campaign for the ban, despite the party instructing them to oppose it.
Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow energy secretary, told The Times the move would lead to a “real slowdown in the deployment of solar in the United Kingdom”.