Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks made by the United Nations’ poverty expert that (1) their response to COVID-19 has been “utterly hypocritical”, and (2) “the pandemic could push more than half a billion people into poverty globally”.

COVID-19 is the biggest threat this country has faced in a generation – and we are not alone. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impacts of this pandemic – to global health, economies and also more broadly. The UK is a global leader in supporting international efforts in the COVID-19 response, having already pledged £744 million in UK aid. The UK Government is taking decisive and co-ordinated action based on the science and evidence, to mitigate COVID-19’s primary and secondary impacts, both in the UK and in support of the poorest and most vulnerable in developing countries.

The UK Government’s domestic package of support in response to COVID-19 is one of the largest in the world. It provides a cash investment of £7 billion into the welfare system alone to support UK citizens through the current crisis – the biggest ever in Universal Credit.

The UK is also using its foreign aid budget and British expertise to stop the spread of COVID-19 internationally, build resilience in vulnerable countries, find a vaccine, new drugs and therapeutics as well as support the economic response. We are helping to prevent the poorest countries – which represent a quarter of the world’s population - from collapse by supporting their economies and access to skills and education.

By preventing the virus from spreading in the poorest countries, we will save millions of lives and reduce the risk of future waves of infection that could come to the UK.