Official Development Assistance and the British Council

Neale Hanvey Excerpts

Wednesday 30th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Neale Hanvey (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) (Alba) [V]]

I would like to begin by paying tribute to the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) and to the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) for keeping the pressure on this matter with the Government. I thank Mr Speaker for recognising the importance of this debate.

I respectfully disagree with the hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith) and his remarks about how we would do things differently in Scotland. We may have aspirations to do things differently, but judging by this debate and its tone, I would suggest that this place speaks strongly and in unison on this matter. As the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) so eloquently illustrated, it is the Prime Minister and his Government who are the isolated outliers forcing this matter through. They clearly fear a meaningful vote in this House.

The importance of meeting a 0.7% GNI target has been accepted by successive UK Governments since the UN target was established in 1970. It was first achieved in the UK in 2013 and the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 established a statutory duty to meet this target. That is something the Government are prepared to break. It is an effective cut of up to £10 billion.

Significant portions of the funding cuts are targeted against sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes globally, resulting in the closure of services and a disruption to supplies and programmes. The president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Mr Edward Morris, called the cuts

“an unconscionable attack on…women and girls”.

The impact of these cuts is immediate. Funding for healthcare that was providing critical, life-saving support has already been terminated, often with little explanation to local government and NGO partners. The cuts will inevitably lead to an increase in maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity.

At a time when the most disadvantaged across the world face the peril of poverty and covid, many countries are expanding their support, such as Canada, France, the United States of America and others. During the emergency debate on 8 June, the Government were warned that this cut would embarrass the UK at the G7 summit and later this year at COP26. The Prime Minister did not account for his lacklustre performance that overshadows even this. A cut of 0.2% may sound tiny to most, but the impact is the difference between life and death for so many. At that time the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said the economy was doing well, so why the cut, forcing austerity on those who can least withstand it?

Sadly, this is well understood in my Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency and by people who rely on foodbanks; I echo the words of the hon. Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen) on this point. This is coupled with the questionable achievement of the Prime Minister in the chair of the G7 summit, where less than a tenth of the support needed is being provided in covid vaccines and financial support.

The disparity was highlighted powerfully by my hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian (Kenny MacAskill). Eleven billion vaccines are needed; 1 billion have been promised. Fifty billion dollars is needed; $5 billion has been promised. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury was able to point to the paragraph of policy that facilitates this cut, but can the Prime Minister, or anyone in this Government, set out the moral justification? Failure to do so reads like a dismissive ignorance of the human cost.

From the protection of women and girls to global infection control of covid, neglect of tropical diseases, and clean water and hygiene across the conflict zones of Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all are losing over half their aid funding. It is not a question or an issue that exists over there. Global health is now a shared responsibility. It is both a moral imperative and in the national interest, something I would ask the hon. Member for Dudley North (Marco Longhi) to ponder on, rather than put forward narrow and dangerous populist views.

This Parliament is speaking clearly. A meaningful vote is of urgent importance. This is an investment in tackling conflict, building prosperity, promoting good governance and reducing poverty, and will secure our own health into the future.