Official Development Assistance and the British Council

David Amess Excerpts

Wednesday 30th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

I pay a warm tribute to the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion), who is doing a superb job as Chair of the International Development Committee. I agreed with much of what she said this afternoon. I also pay a warm tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) for the way that he is leading his campaign on international aid.

I find myself in some difficulty this afternoon, because the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) who is responding to the debate, happens to be my parliamentary neighbour and a good friend of mine. I also backed his boss, the Foreign Secretary, to be leader of the Conservative party. I do not want to fall out with either of them.

Other colleagues have been far more eloquent on international aid than I could be, so I really want to talk about the British Council, which is absolutely fantastic. Wherever I go throughout the world, I always ask to see the British Council contact. The British Council deals with overseas trade and it is marvellous. It is the oldest cultural relations organisation in the world, and the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary have both given their support to the excellent work that it does. I very much support the efforts of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) as chairman of the British Council all-party group. I was very pleased to sign a cross-party letter to the Prime Minister on that issue.

There are so many reasons to be proud to be British—my goodness, I was proud to be British last night when we beat the Germans—and one of them is our soft power and how we use that to help those internationally who are less able to help themselves. The British Council represents the best of Britain overseas through educational and cultural successes. However, it is a two-sided relationship; it works both ways. Before the coronavirus pandemic, as chairman of the all-party group on the Philippines, I attended a Philippines independence day event in Southend. There I met a talented artist who wanted to have her work displayed in the Philippines, and thanks to the British Council that was made possible. That is one small example of how the British Council helps to facilitate a sharing of the culture and history between our two countries. It was also fantastic to have a local Southend artist have her work displayed internationally, and just one further reason why Southend should be the next city of culture and a city.

I and my team have also contacted the British Council over the years about educational links with the United Kingdom. One of the most important things that this historic institution does is connect the United Kingdom with the rest of the world through the teaching of English. As a result, it provides a lifeline for people to advance their career and to continue doing what they are passionate about.

I went on a wonderful trip to the Philippines to assist the Philippine Nurses Association and saw at first hand how the British Council and the Voluntary Service Overseas have helped many Filipino nurses by providing affordable education. British institutions such as Voluntary Service Overseas have offered young people opportunities to volunteer overseas—I was not that young when I did it, but anyway I really enjoyed it—so I ask the Government to commit to the reinstatement of international youth volunteering, so that, once conditions allow for safe international travel, young Brits can benefit from the same opportunities as their predecessors.

In 2014, on a trip to Egypt organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, I met young people involved in a British Council project to learn about their opportunities to develop the skills that they need for the future. They were especially appreciative of the opportunities to learn English, participate in our workshops, and visit the United Kingdom.

As chairman of the all-party group on Qatar, I welcome the strong bilateral ties that we have with Qatar, especially in terms of energy, our cultural links and our economic partnership. Those ties demonstrate what a true partner we are with that country, and I hope that its World Cup next year will be very successful.

I mentioned the Maldives, and I have declared my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Maldives economy is effectively based on two things: tourism and tuna. The coronavirus pandemic has ruined the tourism industry and the 20% import tariffs that we impose on tuna are harshly damaging the economy—I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister might mention that, but if he does not have time, perhaps he could write to me about it. As chair of the all-party British-Maldives parliamentary group, I think we should be helping the sustainable line and rod-caught tuna industry by significantly reducing tariffs, especially as we hosted the G7 and will be hosting COP26 in Glasgow later this year.

We must protect the British Council in order to follow the Government’s global Britain agenda. Soft power is a vital component of that plan. Soft power should be at the heart of our policy making, with a focus on international trade deals and tackling climate change. It therefore comes as a great surprise and disappointment that the British Council has been forced to close in 20 countries including Australia, after agreeing the provisional terms of the UK-Australia free trade agreement and after the UK hosted the G7 summit in Cornwall, which was attended by world leaders from countries affected by the British Council closures, including the United States of America.

It is obvious that the British Council does not have enough funding to run programmes in every country in which it is currently present. The cuts will prove to be a false economy. I therefore urge the Government to rethink the allocation of resources to enable as many countries as possible to benefit from the irreplaceable services that the British Council provides, and to give others internationally the opportunities to learn, share and succeed.