International Development

Joe Powell Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s support for global health and the impact of the commitment. However, we are not continuing the direct funding around polio. That is a difficult decision. What we are doing is insisting that polio is covered as part of the Gavi funding. We are funding more than £1.2 billion in investment in Gavi and the vaccines programme, and their work is now expanding into polio. Given the multiplicity of different programmes in some of those areas, we think the important thing is not to have overlapping programmes but to focus, particularly through Gavi and the Global Fund, on vaccines and on eradicating those diseases.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

Beyond aid, our party has a proud history in this area, from debt relief to immunisation finance and leveraging capital investment in programmes such as the World Bank’s International Development Association fund. Will the Secretary of State give us an idea of how much of a priority that will be for the UK’s G20 presidency? Given that Ukraine now represents one of our biggest humanitarian budgets, what message does she have for my former constituent, Roman Abramovich, who has missed the 90-day deadline to pay the more than £2.5 billion he owes from the sale of Chelsea football club, which could be used for humanitarian needs right now in Ukraine and could alleviate some of those budgetary pressures?

[Yvette Cooper]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s focus on debt relief and the World Bank’s IDA programme, which we are increasing by 40% because it is such an important programme. I can confirm that those issues will be an important part of our G20 approach and plans for next year. I also strongly welcome what he said about Roman Abramovich and the need to get that money from the sale of Chelsea. It should be going to support families and for humanitarian support across Ukraine. That is where that money should be, not held up by someone’s refusal to follow the obligations that he committed to.