International Development: Budget

Lord Rosser Excerpts

Tuesday 11th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rosser]

My Lords, this has been an interesting, albeit brief, debate. Like virtually every other speaker, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Empey, on his opening speech and on giving us the opportunity to receive, we hope, some clarification from the Government about their intentions on this issue.

The Government have previously said on more than one occasion that they are committed not only to achieving but to legislating for 0.7% of gross national income, in line with the United Nations target, to be spent on international aid and development. There was, of course, no mention of such legislation in the gracious Speech, and no indication has been given about when such legislation might appear or, indeed, why it has not appeared to date, as promised. On top of that, we are hearing suggestions from the centre of government that some United Kingdom aid might be directed to prop up a defence budget facing further cuts and also to promote trade interests and British business. As has been said, the Prime Minister announced just under four months ago that he was “very open” to spending money from the UK aid budget on peacekeeping and other security operations, and that he would like to see more of the aid budget diverted to defence by building up the Conflict Pool that is already used by the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development.

Clearly, today’s debate is an opportunity for the Government to put concerns at rest by explaining why the intended legislation has not appeared, and to give the assurances that the noble Lord, Lord Empey, is seeking that there are no government plans to transfer a portion of the international development budget to the budget of the Ministry of Defence. As the former International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said, legislating on this issue of the aid budget “takes it beyond doubt” and,

“takes it out of politics”,

in a situation where all three major parties made it clear at the time of the last general election that they would legislate.

We accept, as we have consistently said, that it is essential that international development and defence are better co-ordinated and that, indeed, there should be a co-ordinated approach to tackling conflict that brings together defence, diplomacy and development. We support how the Conflict Pool can be improved and targeted and how a cross-government approach can better prevent and tackle instability. However, any suggestion that aid money can be used to offset deep defence cuts is misleading, since UK aid money can legitimately be used, in accordance with internationally agreed guidelines, only for security, demobilisation and peacekeeping, and not for core military activities. The major proportion of UK aid money must continue to be used to alleviate poverty, improve basic services and support job creation, all of which are central to ending conflicts everywhere. In that regard, can the Minister say whether any DfID review, or a review by any other competent body or organisation, is being considered or undertaken in relation to the definition used for overseas development assistance, or of the interpretation of that definition, and if there is, the purpose of such a review?

International development aid works, since it saves lives, helps reduce inequality and gives people the chance of a better future. It is also in Britain’s interests, since the unrealised potential of developing nations and their peoples represents lost trade and growth for the UK, as well as for those developing nations and the global economy. It is now time for the Government, when they come to respond, to say why the Prime Minister made the statements he did—to which the noble Lord, Lord Empey, referred—if there is no change in policy. In the light of some recent off-the-record briefings and ad hoc policy statements, as well as the continuing absence of promised legislation, it is also for the Government to show that their direction and good intentions on international development aid will not be compromised by either the consequences of their failure to meet financial targets at home or the need to appease those within their ranks who give such aid little or no priority.