Official Development Assistance and the British Council

Margaret Ferrier Excerpts

Wednesday 30th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

It is an honour to speak in this important estimates debate and to follow the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish).

The British Council works with more than 100 countries worldwide, with programmes promoting greater cultural understanding, and wider knowledge of the English language and of the culture of the nations of the UK. Its work in education, arts and local development has changed the lives of millions of people. Its English language teaching and examinations include the International English Language Testing System, which is run jointly by the council with Cambridge Assessment English and IDP Education Ltd, and has allowed hundreds of thousands of international students to pursue a tertiary education in the UK.

We were promised that Brexit would not mean the end of UK engagement with the world, but here we see the UK Government presiding over yet another retreat. Twenty office closures have already been officially announced by the British Council; grant in aid funding for British Council projects in 11 countries will cease altogether, while, in another nine, grant in aid programming will be delivered through offices in other countries. According to the official British Council press release on the subject, job losses across the organisation appear to be “unavoidable”.

Afghanistan is one of the countries affected by the decision. British Council projects there over the last decade have included training thousands of English language teachers and promoting the revival of Afghan arts. Its English for Afghans programme, which fosters training in greater English language skills in schools, the civil service and among religious leaders, was invaluable in furthering Afghan economic self-reliance and combating political extremism. The British Council also runs Active Citizens training packages in Afghan universities that facilitate community engagement, active citizenship and youth exchanges. Young people on these courses develop a wide range of skills in leadership, communication, citizenship and volunteering, and address unique local priorities through social projects in their own communities.

The work of the British Council is therefore critical to building cultural understanding and international partnerships between the people of Afghanistan and the wider world. Given the deep military and political involvement of the UK and our allies in Afghanistan over the past two decades, and historical ties between the UK and Afghanistan going back over an even longer period, this disengagement from British Council activity constitutes nothing short of a betrayal of our commitments to the Afghan people.

Malawi will be greatly impacted by the UK Government’s overseas development cuts. It is a country with which Scotland has long-standing bilateral links, as does Blantyre in my community. If the Government plan to maintain many existing bilateral commitments, there is a specific concern that countries such as Malawi that are small, peaceful and habitually overlooked in UK Government aid policy, may disproportionately bear the brunt of the cuts.

The Prime Minister, in previous remarks in this House, has characterised overseas development aid as a

“giant cashpoint in the sky”.—[Official Report, 16 June 2020; Vol. 677, c. 670.]

That is not the case in Malawi, where overseas development assistance means clear water, primary education and the most basic healthcare provision for millions of the poorest in the world. Water, food and education—this is not a cashpoint, or a tap that can be turned off and on as seems politically opportune 5,000 miles away.

I turn to Sierra Leone, another country where cuts to the British Council will be harshly felt. The British Council, jointly with local NGO AdvocAid, runs Justice Matters, a project supporting vulnerable women and girls in conflict with the law. Justice Matters provides legal aid to women and girls, literacy training and welfare support to women and girls in prison, and information to the wider community about the legal rights of women and girls.

According to AdvocAid, in 2014, a third of the female inmates in Sierra Leone said they had never been to school, while 83% had a salary of less than $1 a day. Poverty and lack of education leads women and girls to conflict with the law, admitting guilt inadvertently or being forced to pay bribes because they do not understand their rights. Very few can afford lawyers, minors are rarely treated differently from adults by the courts, and the reasons behind crimes are rarely taken into account in the legal process.

In that light, the work of the British Council in Sierra Leone is invaluable. The Prime Minister has asserted many times that he considers the education of women and girls a personal priority for international aid in developing countries, but it is precisely that education on their legal rights that these cuts will affect.

Aid should not be a tool in the Foreign Secretary’s toolbox as he looks to influence other countries to take actions that benefit our own wealth, security and political ends. In that light, it would be good if the Minister would clarify that he understands the severity of these decisions. Will he say by how much the overseas development budget will be cut in Malawi, where those cuts will fall, and what impact the UK Government foresee them having? How are the Government mitigating the impact of the 20 British Council closures around the world?