Sudan

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

As my noble friend Lord Browne of Ladyton has mentioned, it has been a privilege to sit through this debate and listen to, in the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, the combination of compassion and expertise. Unfortunately, I must apologise to the House; I have double-booked and will have to leave before the end. According to the rules, I should have scratched but I wanted to scratch in person so I could apologise to the House and, more importantly, to all the organisations that sent us detailed briefs. I am sure the Minister has received them too and I hope that he will address them.

As I am leaving, the Minister is under no obligation to answer any questions which I ask, but I very much hope that he will answer the question raised by the noble Lord, Lord Oates, about cash rather than food. This issue was raised by a number of organisations at the APPG meeting on Wednesday. It runs through all aid efforts. We must give agency to the people whom we are helping. To the extent that providing money rather than food is a key element of that, I very much hope that my noble friend the Minister can answer the point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Oates.