Afghanistan

Lord King of Bridgwater Excerpts

Wednesday 28th July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord King of Bridgwater]

Does my noble friend agree that if we are to get some benefit for the people of Afghanistan from the considerable sums put into trying to help them in various ways, we ought to concentrate on a few key issues which were suggested in this House very recently—the provision of electricity, clean water and safe transport between different cities on the main roads? Is not the tragic news today confirmation that ensuring secure transport, so that people can get their goods to market and travel freely without risk, is one of the most important things that we can do?

[Baroness Verma]

I agree with everything that my noble friend has said, and of course part of our programme is designed to ensure that Afghanistan has this road-building capacity. We are also determined to ensure that the MDGs are reached. We have therefore increased the extension for Afghanistan to 2020, because it has started from an incredibly low base.