Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Carden and Harriett Baldwin

Thursday 6th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Harriett Baldwin)]

It sounds like a wonderful opportunity to meet representatives of HUGS in my hon. Friend’s constituency. As the Secretary of State said, we do have a small charities challenge fund, and we need to make it easier for small charities such as HUGS to be able to access some of that funding. I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend’s constituents.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

May I start by saying how much I am enjoying following the Secretary of State’s novel approach to his party’s leadership contest? He certainly stands out in a field of populists, potty mouths and parliamentary proroguers. I also know that if I do not get satisfactory answers today, I can find him on the high street, at a botanical garden or at #rorywalks. Some of his fellow leadership contenders have called for his Department to be scrapped and the aid budget to be slashed, and his predecessor said that spending 0.7% of national income was unsustainable. Will he take this opportunity to defend an independent DFID and 0.7%, and perhaps call on his fellow contenders to make their positions clear?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Carden and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 1st May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman will want to raise questions about UK Export Finance when he has the chance to question our colleagues from the Department for International Trade. DFID’s focus is very much on encouraging access to electricity from renewable sources. So far some 17 million people around the world have gained access to clean energy thanks to our investment.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

I wonder whether the Minister will today commit to auditing and publishing UK aid spending on fossil fuels through the CDC, the prosperity fund and multilateral organisations?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am pretty sure that a lot of that information is already in the public domain. I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman my understanding that the CDC has made no new investments in fossil fuels since 2012.[Official Report, 8 May 2019, Vol. 659, c. 8MC.]

[Dan Carden]

The Labour party has committed to divesting DFID of all fossil fuel projects, which directly undermine the global goals on climate and sustainable energy.

“It’s time we admitted that there’s more to life than money, and it’s time we focused not just on GDP but on…general wellbeing.”

Those are not my words but David Cameron’s. GDP is a crude indicator that tells us nothing of people’s wellbeing, inequality levels or the health of our planet. However, this Secretary of State seems concerned only with increased competition and mobilising private finance to deliver the global goals. Is it not time that the Government woke up to the need for new policies and measures that focus on people and planet?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Carden and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 13th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Africa (Harriett Baldwin)]

I know that my hon. Friend will want to tell the schoolchildren of Dudley, who are supporting this campaign, of the great work that is done through UK Aid, which has ensured that some 7 million children have had access to a decent education.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

Why does the Secretary of State believe that the UK’s commitment to spending 0.7% of national income on aid is unsustainable?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Carden and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 21st November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

May I reassure the hon. Gentleman—and perhaps encourage him not to believe everything he reads in the newspapers—that the UK continues to be a member of UNESCO? We continue to look to UNESCO to follow through on the reforms it promised to undertake. We continue to work with it on that.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

In May, an International Development Committee report on official development assistance found that increasing amounts spent by other Departments had

“negligible targeting towards helping the poorest and most vulnerable.”

Just last week, the energy watchdog Platform reported UK aid being used to help oil, gas and fracking industries with their overseas market expansion. Does the Minister understand the growing concerns about the creeping, changing nature of the UK aid budget under this Government?

[Harriett Baldwin]

The hon. Gentleman is part of a Front-Bench team that does not seem to believe in the role of the private sector at all. The Government believe that to reach the sustainable development goals—some $2.5 trillion is needed to achieve them—we need to be able to crowd in investors into other sectors. I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that we continue to put significant funding—some £5.8 billion—towards ensuring that more people around the world have access to clean energy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Carden and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am delighted to hear about the hon. Lady’s wonderful trip to Malawi and look forward to meeting her to discuss it in more detail. I can confirm that we are doing extensive bilateral work in Malawi and that many young people from the UK go out with the VSO’s International Citizen Service.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

Some 11.5 million young people globally have signed a petition to the United Nations backing a $10 billion plan to create an international finance facility for education that would guarantee every child the right to an education by 2030. If we are to meet the sustainable development goal on education, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that we require an “extraordinary, indeed superhuman, effort.” Will the Government provide both financial guarantees to such a facility and that superhuman effort?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I pay tribute to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s work on the girls’ education agenda around the world. We are considering the feasibility of that international financing facility for education, and we are going through the technical detail, but we are not yet in a position to support the proposal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Carden and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 27th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work as a trade envoy to Nigeria. I can tell him that the Prosperity Fund global education programme is due to start this year, aiming to improve standards of education and increase UK exports, and Nigeria will be one of the countries involved.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.