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When the Government signed a deal on net-zero co-operation with Canada, the text of the memorandum was published. So too were the texts of deals with Ireland, Norway, South Korea and Chile.

Five months after the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband signed a similar memorandum with the Chinese government, however, we are still in the dark as to precisely what was agreed.

Chinese media have asserted that the Energy Secretary agreed to co-operation on power grids, battery storage, offshore wind power and carbon capture, among other areas; it is understood that Chinese investment in the UK was not discussed by Mr Miliband. The role of the Chinese state in Britain’s net-zero ambitions may well be an uncomfortable issue for the Labour Government to discuss.

While the Defence Secretary is insisting that Britain is “ready to fight” over the future of Taiwan and the Foreign Secretary is explicitly referring to China as a “sophisticated and persistent threat” that requires hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding for the intelligence services, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been courting Chinese investment, and Mr Miliband’s drive to meet his net-zero targets is heavily dependent on Chinese industry.

Both the switch to electric vehicles and the decarbonisation of the energy grid will make heavy use of Chinese products. One study commissioned by the German defence ministry recently warned that this position at the heart of Western energy systems could result in Beijing enjoying the power to trigger remote shut-downs as “an instrument of economic warfare”.

Such concerns are less hypothetical than we might wish. Earlier this year, undocumented communication devices were located in Chinese-made power inverters exported to the United States, triggering fears that Beijing could use compromised equipment to “physically destroy the grid”. This would be fully in line with the current approach of the People’s Liberation Army to warfare as a clash between systems, and the extensive Volt Typhoon operation carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors.

Even given the understandable desire to avoid a sudden break with China, the delicacy of the balance between trade and reliance is such that the British public deserves to know what Mr Miliband has discussed with Beijing.

The amount of corruption in this House is absolutely astonishing:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/06/richard-dannatt-peer-meetings-ministers-potential-client-house-of-lords

Scandal after scandal:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/04/lords-watchdog-investigates-labour-peer-lord-evans-of-watford

It simply doesn't stop:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/07/earl-of-shrewsbury-faces-questions-over-erroneous-travel-expenses-claims

One of the most astonishing thing about the UK is the fact these Lords have lifetime job security. Many of them just show up to get paid, have some tea and play cards with friends. Meanwhile, they vote for slashing the social safety net.

Job security for the elite. Fear and insecurity for the masses.

A disabled bus passenger and campaigner has been left in a “state of constant fear” after he was shown “dehumanising” and “violent” messages exchanged between drivers that made fun of his weight and even called for him to be shot.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/33840224

From age and ID restrictions on the Internet, to charging rappers with “terrorism,” the U.K. is demolishing the most basic civil liberties. If we let them, U.S. leaders may be close behind.

A former Hong Kong politician and prominent democracy campaigner has accused British police of asking her to “self-censor” and “retreat from public life” after officers asked her to agree to avoid public gatherings.

The request, outlined in a signed “memorandum of understanding” seen by the Guardian, has alarmed exiled dissidents who fear it may embolden attempts to silence criticism of Chinese and Hong Kong officials worldwide.

Carmen Lau, who moved to the UK in 2021, was asked to sign the formal agreement in March by Thames Valley police after her neighbours were posted letters offering a £100,000 bounty for information on her movements or for her being taken to authorities.

Thames Valley police requested Lau “cease any activity that is likely to put you at risk” and “avoid attending public gatherings” such as protests.

Lau is wanted by Hong Kong authorities for allegedly contravening the territory’s national security law, which grants sweeping extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the world that it deems criminal. She also works with the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based organisation dedicated to “raising international support for the advancement of its democracy and human rights”.

Tony Chung, a democracy activist who was jailed under Hong Kong’s national security law but now lives in the UK, was also the subject of near-identical letters requesting British citizens inform on him.

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