Integrated Review: Development Aid

Baroness Jay of Paddington Excerpts

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jay of Paddington (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I am sure the Minister has registered that this well-attended debate secured by the noble Lord, Lord Alton, is the third time in the past week that your Lordships have raised deep concerns about the cuts to ODA. This is a profoundly serious matter of policy and reputation, and I am very proud that the House is pursuing it so vigorously.

This is also my first opportunity to pay tribute to my friend Lord Judd, whose clear and firm voice on development we miss today. He was always my important mentor when I was chair of the Overseas Development Institute and he was enthusiastically involved in all the NGOs and aid charities that exist. This is a crucial sector in development and I particularly mention the work of VSO, of which Frank Judd was the onetime director.

VSO is now 50 years old and has continuously delivered vital programmes to the world’s poorest people. It has played a constant, central role in making the UK what the integrated review calls “a soft power superpower”. But on 23 April, VSO was told that its funding is to be cut by 45% and will be given for only one year. As the noble Lord, Lord Alton, mentioned, it is now reckoned that 4 million people will lose its services. I have been a short-term VSO volunteer in Africa three times and can vouch wholeheartedly for those services. They chime precisely with the Government’s priorities on girls’ education and health security, especially in the pandemic.

To be successful, these services must have consistent and predictable funding—the “thoughtful investment” that the integrated review has called for. Short-term erratic growth will undermine decades of careful work on projects which cannot be revived instantly if ODA levels are sometimes restored. I fear that this policy will prove as practically short-sighted as it is politically indefensible.

Zimbabwe: Human Rights Abuses

Baroness Jay of Paddington Excerpts

Tuesday 16th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

I pay tribute to the noble Baroness’s work on supporting democracy for the Zimbabwean people, and I recognise that she has not only been present in Zimbabwe during previous elections but has a deep love for that country. We remain extremely concerned about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. We provide significant ODA support, but not directly via the Zimbabwean Government. Our efforts are geared towards empowering people through education and via conservation, which provides significant opportunities for tourism and jobs. As we look towards elections in 2023, much needs to be done to ensure a fair playing field. That is what we will continue to push for; it is what the Zimbabwean people deserve.

[Baroness Jay of Paddington (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, as an official Commonwealth observer at the last election in Zimbabwe, I was warned particularly about the threats posed by the new Government to women’s rights. Reports of abuses have greatly accelerated recently. Just last week, I was contacted by women’s organisers, asking for help to press for the release of three prominent women being held for political activity. What representations are being made about these types of cases and about women’s rights in general?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

Of course, we are very concerned by the failure to address the allegations of abduction and abuse of three MDC Alliance members: Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. We continue to call for investigations into those allegations. The Minister for Africa reiterated this message when he spoke to Zimbabwe’s late Foreign Minister, Sibusiso Moyo, on 8 June 2020. We have raised our concerns about the arrests and rearrests of Joana Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri, who were recently denied bail, and we will continue to follow their cases closely.

Official Development Assistance

Baroness Jay of Paddington Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I cannot go into the details of the legislative proposals that will be coming forward; as I said, I am not party to them yet, but they are being looked at. He asked some specific questions about sunset clauses, as did the noble Lord, Lord Collins, which I have noted, but beyond what I have said about the status of the legislation there is little more that I can add at this juncture.

[Baroness Jay of Paddington (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I too am concerned about the lack of clarity about where the axe will fall on the UK’s very effective aid programme. Is the Minister able to give specific examples of where the severe cuts may occur? For instance, will women’s education funding be at the same sort of level or a much lower one? In health, will maintaining help with Covid mean reducing HIV/AIDS projects when their importance was very much emphasised yesterday on World AIDS Day? The Government really owe those receiving assistance and those delivering it much more proper transparency.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I assure the noble Baroness that as we look at our priorities for spend in 2020 those will become much clearer. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary is looking quite specifically at the issue of ODA spend for next year. The noble Baroness is right to raise the important gains that we have seen on key priorities that the UK has supported. I assure her that we will look at each programme to ensure that we can sustain not only the leadership that we have shown but the gains that we have made. Again, I have to say to her that I cannot give her details about specific programmes and projects at this time.

Hong Kong: Human Rights

Baroness Jay of Paddington Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jay of Paddington (Lab)]

My Lords, my anxiety about human rights in Hong Kong is partly a personal matter, as two of my grandchildren were born there. Fortunately, my son’s family is now in this country, but there is grave concern for their friends and former neighbours and colleagues. The Prime Minister has made a general offer of a route to UK citizenship for Hong Kongers who wish to leave. Can the Minister clarify who will qualify and when these programmes might start?

Strategically, I hope, with others, that Hong Kong’s crisis will be addressed through collective international action and international institutions. It was encouraging when the chair of the Commons committee and a US Senator together urged a revival of the Atlantic partnership, but I fear that we will not see positive collaboration from President Trump. Can the Minister report any progress on the proposal that Britain should lead the formation of an international contact group which could pro-actively engage in Hong Kong’s future?

Zimbabwe

Baroness Jay of Paddington Excerpts

Monday 21st January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I have to be very honest, as I always am at the Dispatch Box: that is not an option I have considered.

[Baroness Jay of Paddington (Lab)]

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Hayward, I had the privilege of being a member of the delegation on behalf of the Commonwealth that was one of the observers at the elections in Zimbabwe in the summer. In our report, we acknowledged many of the concerns that have been raised around the House this afternoon, and in particular the one about the potential for Zimbabwe to be readmitted to the Commonwealth. I think I am right in saying that we were slightly concerned at what I would describe positively as the “relaxed” and, negatively, as the “complacent” attitude of some members of the British Government’s delegation there about the post-election violence, in which there was an attempt to suggest that it was all simulated by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Will the Minister assure the House that no attention will be paid to those who are now trying to identify the MDC as the exclusive source of violence in this episode?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness and other noble Lords for their work on and interest in helping Zimbabwe to secure a sustainable democracy and the prevailing rule of law—important points that we have raised in your Lordships’ House and beyond. On her specific question on the MDC, as I indicated in an earlier answer, the British ambassador, along with international partners, met the acting Foreign Minister, the Home Affairs Minister and also the opposition MDC leader on 16 January to ensure a joint approach with international partners and the opposition to ensure, first and foremost, that the conflict and violence that we have seen on the roads are stopped and that the rule of law can prevail.

Education: Marshall Scholarships

Baroness Jay of Paddington Excerpts

Monday 18th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I am very glad indeed, as I am sure that we all are, to hear about the vigorous cycling activities of my noble friend. As to her question, those two categories are not ones with which our Marshall scholarships, Chevening scholarships, our own Commonwealth scholarships or other programmes are related. We wish those schemes well and they are very good programmes, but they are not directly related to our programmes, which we run from our various departments here.

[Baroness Jay of Paddington]

My Lords—

[Lord Kinnock]

My Lords—

[Baroness Jay of Paddington]

My Lords, at a time when the so-called special relationship is quite often under threat, is the Minister aware of the important fact that there are 10 Marshall scholars in President Obama's Administration? Given what we know of the generosity of previous scholars—for example, their personal donations to British universities far outweigh the scholarship’s £2 million cost to the FCO—it is very important that the scheme should be maintained.

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

The noble Baroness is right to say that we must maintain the scheme. Obviously, we have to face up to the fact that we have to make economies everywhere, but she is right that we must maintain it. I had heard that the number of Marshall scholars in the Obama Cabinet was five, not 10, but perhaps there are some others. Certainly, one of the wisest of the Supreme Court judges is a very distinguished ex-Marshall scholar. The noble Baroness is quite right that we must maintain the scheme, but we have to face economic realities as well—everyone knows that.