Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Mitchell and Caroline Dinenage

Wednesday 30th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

8. What plans he has for future levels of development aid to India.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

I have frozen the India programme at current levels until 2015. Working closely with the Government of India, we will target our support on three of the poorest states. Our programme will change to reflect the importance of the role of the private sector.

[Caroline Dinenage]

Despite the undoubted poverty in India, the Indian Government have nuclear weapons, a space programme and their own programme for foreign aid. What can we do to encourage the Indian Government to spend more money on the things that they should spend money on, rather than on the things that they want?

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is right to ask whether India has reached the point where we should end our development programme. Our judgment is that we are not there yet. As she said, India has more poor people than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. It also has the biggest Government-led pro-poor, anti-poverty programme anywhere in the world, and through our programme, we are strongly encouraging more of the same.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Mitchell and Caroline Dinenage

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Haiti.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

Although the number of people in camps in Haiti has fallen by half to 800,000 since last July, Haiti continues to face serious humanitarian challenges.

[Caroline Dinenage]

The President of Haiti famously said that it would take a thousand trucks a thousand days to clear the devastation, but the people do not have a thousand days, because they are suffering disease and crime, and they do not have a thousand trucks. What more can the international community do to tackle the problem?

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is right to identify the scale of the damage and of what is required to put it right. We are working directly on tackling the threat of cholera, and working through the UN and the World Bank on some of the more serious aspects of what needs to happen to bring the relief that is required .