Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

As I said, we are continuing to work very closely with our Ukrainian counterparts, and after questions the Minister for Trade Policy, my right hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt), will meet the business group to continue those discussions and ensure that we are both targeting in the short term and thinking about long-term ways in which we can support Ukraine and help it recover from this illegal invasion.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

T2. In spite of the ongoing conflict in Tigray, a number of businesses have contacted me to say that they want to increase the amount of business that they do in Ethiopia. Will the Minister keep the dialogue going with the Ethiopian Government? That will help our businesses and may help to bring the conflict to an end.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

The Government are to be congratulated on their plans to phase out diesel and petrol cars, but that raises the question of how we will charge electric cars, especially for those who do not have driveways and have to park on the roads. What can we do to speed up the development of the infrastructure?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Just yesterday, the energy regulator, Ofgem, announced that it has approved a £300 million investment to help triple the number of ultrarapid electric car charging points across the country. That will give a green light for energy network companies to invest in more than 200 low-carbon projects across the country over the next two years, including the installation of 1,800 new ultrarapid car charge points for motorway service stations, and a further 1,750 charge points in towns and cities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Wednesday 10th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Queenie is clearly a wise young person, and it is a really important question. The UK is at the forefront of efforts to drive global collaboration and resourcing, including through our engagement through the access to covid tools accelerator and through industry for the development of new vaccines at the speed and scale required to ensure access for all those who will need them. As well as contributing £1.65 billion to fund Gavi’s core programme we have committed £48 million to its newly launched covax advanced market commitment, aimed at incentivising manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of a potential vaccine to ensure future access for low-income and middle-income countries.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con) [V]]

Happy birthday to you from Tewkesbury, Mr Speaker. Many people in east Africa have suffered from food insecurity for very many years, and of course the challenge has been multiplied recently. Will the Secretary of State give us a quick assessment of the position in east Africa and what the Government are doing to help people there?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The UK is proud to support the World Food Programme, with £500 million last year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, with £40 million, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, with more than £50 million, in their efforts to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition across Africa. We are also assisting countries to respond to the desert locust upsurge in east Africa, which threatens 25 million people with severe food shortages. UK aid has funded a supercomputer to track that and help develop early warning systems and has provided £5 million to the UNFAO’s regional emergency appeal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. There is a real challenge for those of us who are committed to helping vulnerable countries to become stronger and more self-sufficient. We have had to bring some of our team home, but many are still in country. We are finding as many ways as possible to support in-country work on the economic and the healthcare sides, to make sure that those countries do not fall over and that the work that has painstakingly been built up to help them to develop in strength and self-sufficiency does not go backward.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

What recent assessment she has made of the food security situation in east Africa.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

The devastating locust outbreak in east Africa has paralysed communities that are already facing the daily threat of starvation. With British expertise and funding, we are supporting the international effort to track, stop and kill dangerous swarms of locusts. With rising temperatures driving the infestations, Britain is stepping up to help vulnerable communities to prepare for and adapt to the catastrophic impact of climate change.

[Mr Robertson [V]]

As the Secretary of State says, millions of people in east Africa already live with food insecurity, and poor seasonal rains recently have been followed by the locust infestation. Can the Secretary of State use the DFID budget to provide urgent food aid of nutritional quality to people who, through no fault of their own, face the most basic problem?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

DFID programmes are supporting enhanced regional trade and access to nutritional food in east Africa. In Ethiopia, the UK is supporting the productive safety net programme to provide food and cash to 8 million of the poorest people, and the UK’s recent £12 million contribution to UNICEF will provide malnourished children with nutritious food. We continue to work with Governments in the region to ensure that essential supplies reach those in need.