Stephen Doughty
MP for Cardiff South and Penarth · Labour (Co-op) · United Kingdom
“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to set out the situation, the threats and the impact on our economy. Across this House, we share a desire to get the strait reopened.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his sustained and continued advocacy on behalf of his constituent, which is deeply powerful. I know it is of concern to many Members across this House. Despite some progress in Mr Johal’s legal proceedings, eight of the cases against him remain outstanding.”
“I share the hon. Gentleman’s horror at some of the things we have seen going on in those illegal settlements, and we have absolutely condemned the settler violence—the settler terrorism—that we have seen.”
“I pay tribute to our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office consular teams, particularly for their current work on the Nepal-China flooding crisis. It is also important to pay tribute to the work they do to support the thousands of British nationals who are arrested or detained abroad each year.”
“If I may, Mr Speaker, I want to start by acknowledging the devastating floods in Nepal. I know many Members are supporting constituents who have been affected by this tragedy, and our intention remains to support British nationals and the people of Nepal.”
“The right hon. Gentleman raises important cases. I can assure him that we continue to support the clemency applications of Ryan Cornelius and Charles Ridley and to raise their case with the UAE authorities. In fact, I did so recently; the former Foreign Secretary did so as well and has met the families. As the right hon.”
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“It is a pleasure to follow the Chair of a Select Committee, who has made some excellent points that I wholeheartedly endorse. I recognise many of the issues that the hon. Member for Kensington (Felicity Buchan) has just raised, because they affect my constituents too. It is really important to recognise that this is of course a UK-wide problem and that many of the regulations under which these buildings were built predate devolution, so even though some of the responsibilities now sit with the Welsh or Scottish Governments, this is a legacy of failure within the building and construction industry, in the way that leasehold operates, and on many other issues that we have discussed in the House on a number of occasions. I have been contacted yet again in the past few weeks by residents in Cardiff South and Penarth.”
“They are letting down workers up and down the country: in Ashfield, in Scunthorpe, in Corby, in West Brom and in south Wales in places such as Bridgend, instead of taking action at this critical time. We do not want to go back to that crisis of the past when there is an opportunity for steel to be at the heart of our future. I finish by saying this: the Minister proudly has the Union Jack on his mask, but I want to see the Union Jack stamped on the steel being used at the heart of our national infrastructure, made by British workers for British infrastructure. That is the choice that the Government have tonight.”
“The TRA’s decisions simply do not make sense. Let me give one brief example. Rebar, which is produced in the plant on my patch, is produced in straight lengths and in coils. Straight lengths would be covered by the proposed safeguards, but coils would not be, and would be substituted, yet they are both produced in exactly the same way. All that would happen is that the quota would be used up on the straight lengths and then loads of coil would flood in. That is an absolute absurdity. It is dangerous for our national infrastructure, for our sovereignty and for our national defence, and I cannot understand why the Government are not willing to take action on that.”
“The steel that is produced in my constituency’s plant is crucial to British national infrastructure, to defence projects, to infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and Hinkley, and to our rail infrastructure. If it is put at risk, as it has been so many times in the past, by cheap imports flooding in from places such as China, Iran and Turkey, that will be an absolute absurdity, not least because our steel is produced in an electric arc furnace from recycled steel in one of the most clean and efficient processes. Why on earth would we want that to be substituted, to see our carbon emissions offshored to China, to see our high-quality steel replaced at the heart of British national infrastructure projects by lower-quality steel from China? What an absurdity that would be, both for jobs in this country and for our national security.”
“I must also acknowledge the sensible co-operation between the UK Government and the Welsh Government in support of the steelworks in my constituency during this past difficult year, and that is why it was so disappointing to hear such a weak, vacuous and petty speech from the Minister, whom I like personally. His speech will have disappointed steelworkers and steel communities up and down the country, because it simply failed to engage with the issues that they and their industry are facing, or with the challenges to the thousands of jobs not only in those plants but downstream in critical manufacturing and infrastructure projects that depend on British steel.”
“It is refreshing to follow the speech by the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft). She has a choice tonight. She can vote for this motion, which would provide the ability to take action to introduce emergency legislation, and stand up for her constituents in Scunthorpe. It has been sad to hear some other Members who seemed to be falling in line with their Whips. The House will be aware of the Celsa steelworks in my constituency, and I pay tribute to the management and all the workers there and to the trade union Community across south Wales. GMB and Unite do so much to stand up for steelworkers, and I declare my interest in relation to the GMB. I also pay tribute to UK Steel.”
“Will he also consider targeted sanctions and measures against any individual, from whatever side, who is found to have committed human rights abuses, war crimes or other atrocities?”
“There is clear evidence of a serious food crisis, as the UK envoy and the UN have said, with huge numbers of people at risk of famine and food emergency, so this is the wrong time for us to be slashing humanitarian aid, as the House has made repeatedly clear. The Minister mentioned £16.7 million being diverted. However, the UN humanitarian chief pointed out last week that the UK had provided $108 million to Ethiopia last year, but that this year we have reported only $6 million. Can the Minister clarify that, and tell us when we will be urgently increasing our total assistance? I share his concerns about Eritrean troops. Have any actually left, or are they still there? It has been claimed that they have left, but I have yet to see any evidence of that.”
“The UN human rights chief has spoken of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the G7 spoke this weekend of a humanitarian tragedy, with potentially hundreds of thousands living in famine conditions, so has the Prime Minister spoken to Prime Minister Abiy or any of the other key players, not least following the G7 this weekend? If not, when will he do so? What action are we taking at the Security Council and the Human Rights Council with the AU to bring about an end to the conflict, full humanitarian access and a full independent investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses?”
“We all want to see a prosperous and democratic Ethiopia, but the war and famine of the 1980s are seared into the memories of the British people and the world, so it is especially heartbreaking to see the current famine and to see civilians being hacked to death, rape, the destruction of food and health capacity, tens of thousands displaced and hundreds of thousands cut off from assistance. We must now speak forcefully and frankly, and most crucially take action in the face of the growing and incontrovertible evidence. We have a clear responsibility to act and to protect and assist Ethiopian civilians.”
“I thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson) for his strong words, and the Minister for his frank response. We have also repeatedly raised this horrendous situation. Indeed, I raised it with the Prime Minister in this House eight months ago, but tragically since then we have seen a worsening and deepening of the crisis. As has been said, Ethiopia has made huge strides forward on poverty, and our aid, trade and friendly partnership has been hugely important.”
“My hon. Friend refers to some of that world-beating research. I chair the all-party parliamentary group on HIV and AIDS. There has been a great degree of concern among some of our global health all-party groups about the cuts that were and are coming to global health research. I totally support the amendments that we have tabled on climate change; there is also a critical link between climate change and global health. Does my hon. Friend agree that we absolutely need to continue that world-beating research, because it has so many benefits for health not just globally, but in this country too?”
“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I support the amendments, which are also in my name. Many constituents have written to me about these issues. Does he agree that there is a stark contrast here with the approach shown by the Welsh Labour Government? Let us take their tree-planting programme as an example. Since 2008, the Plant! scheme has planted a tree for every child born or adopted in Wales and also in Uganda, supporting forestation globally. The Welsh Government have also introduced a new moratorium on incineration, which affects my constituency and that of the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones), when it comes to that crucial issue of air quality”
“I have raised this matter with the Secretary of State for Wales, the Minister and others, yet the letter that came back from the Housing Secretary over a month later said he is “not able to confirm the details and timing of budgetary allocations to Wales”, although he says the Barnett formula will “apply to that funding in the usual way”. Why can he not give a clear and unequivocal answer about the money that will be available to Wales, and how the Government will work with Welsh officials on the proposed new tax and the new building levy so that we can finally provide some assurance to leaseholders in my constituency and, crucially, across the country?”
“I am yet to receive adequate response from the UK Government, who have left the Welsh Government and Welsh leaseholders in the dark on the way forward. There is no need for that unless there is something to hide. As the Minister knows, Welsh Government officials have worked constructively with his Department on the passage of the Bill, and are working on a range of issues relating to the building safety Bill, yet it took the Housing Secretary more than a month to respond to the Welsh Housing Minister on the crucial, very reasonable questions she was asking in an offer of co-operation.”
“They have an active programme on leasehold reform and, crucially, are making it clear, which the Government here seem unwilling to do, that leaseholders should not have to foot the bill for fixing these fire safety and building safety defects. We all want the developers to pay and we all want the resources to come through, but the reality is that we all have to stand up and say clearly, once and for all, that leaseholders should not be the ones paying for the remediation. This is not their fault. I will continue to work closely on the issue with my constituency colleague Vaughan Gething, our local councillors, and a range of residents and leaseholder organisations. We are not going away. Some of the stories of how people have been affected have been told passionately today on BBC Wales—the suffering, the anxiety, the pressures.”
“Our leaseholders have been dealing with this matter for years—the anxiety, the stress and the financial pressure, not least during the covid pandemic over the past year. That has been intolerable for some of them, and I have met constituents who were crying and in a terrible state because of the situation they have been left in. I simply cannot understand the Government’s continued resistance, not least given the cross-party pressure and support. I thank the Welsh Government—Housing Minister Julie James, my colleague Vaughan Gething and so many others—for meeting with leaseholders in my constituency. They have put pressure on developers and made a commitment to £32 million in the recent budget, and have already committed £10 million.”
“It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Sir Robert Neill). I agree wholeheartedly with what he said, and indeed with the comments made from the Front Bench by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones) and by many other Members across the House. I also support the Lords amendment, not least because of the suffering undergone by my constituents in Cardiff South and Penarth and by many others across the UK. The Minister talked about uncertainty, but as many Members have pointed out, uncertainty is being caused by the Government’s failure to engage with reasonable proposals made from all parts of the House to provide certainty for the very leaseholders who have been affected. The Minister’s arguments simply do not wash.”
“I completely agree with the points that my hon. Friend is raising. She will know the suffering of my constituents in Cardiff South and Penarth. Does she agree that the UK Government need to get around the table with the Welsh Government and provide clarity on how those taxes will work, and how money will flow from the building levy and the tax? The UK Government have not yet done that. We have finally had an answer to the letter from the Welsh Housing Minister, and the Welsh Government have put aside money, but they are not clear how much money is coming from the UK Government.”
“Is it in order to put out an announcement of such magnitude at the end of the day without the ability to scrutinise it in this Chamber? How might Members from across the House—many senior Members from across the House want to ask questions on it—secure the presence of the Foreign Secretary in this Chamber to answer questions at the earliest possible opportunity?”
“Madam Deputy Speaker, you will be aware of the deep disquiet in all corners of the House about the nature of the announcement, the way it was made, and the breach of the manifesto promise on 0.7% and the cross-party consensus at a time when we face a global pandemic, millions on the brink of famine, conflict and instability from the Sahel to Yemen, including in regions where our armed forces are stationed, and a climate crisis—it is Earth Day today. The UK is about to host the G7 summit and is, of course, seeking new trading and partnership opportunities around the world. The announcement has been resoundingly criticised today by the former national security adviser, the United Nations humanitarian chief and 200 of our leading humanitarian organisations.”
“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you for taking this point of order. You will be aware that yesterday the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office issued notice of a written statement, confusingly entitled “FCDO Update”, which quite frankly could refer to anything. It was not released until 5 o’clock yesterday and its nature was not clear, but it turned out to be an announcement on some of the detail, but far from all, of the huge cuts in official development assistance, leaving a range of international bodies, partner countries and humanitarian organisations in a totally confusing and unacceptable situation. This was done at the end of the day, beyond the deadline for submitting an urgent question, which of course is 1 pm.”
“Will he give a cast-iron guarantee that we will continue to meet our debt of obligation to all those who served in Afghanistan, whether it is with respect to their physical health, their mental health, their housing or other needs, for as long as that is necessary?”
“May I add my tribute to all those who served and those who tragically lost their lives? I visited Helmand in 2009, when I believe the Minister was on his second tour, and I saw at first hand the bravery, dedication and professionalism of our armed forces and all those who worked with them in extraordinary circumstances. That will never be forgotten. They did make a difference. The Minister mentioned those who are living with life-changing injuries, including some of those he served with. Of course, those injuries are not just physical; tragically, there are mental health consequences for many, and there are also issues with housing, access to public services and so on.”
“We are handing over the chair of the Commonwealth to a Commonwealth member we enjoy a close partnership with, Rwanda, later this year. This is an extraordinary backdrop against which to be heading into those crucial international moments, when the threats are so large, when the impact from covid-19 is so great, when other threats to people around the world are so intense and when we would be letting down those very Churches, faith-based organisations and NGOs that have been at the heart of a moral, humanitarian, human rights-based British response over so many decades. I urge the Government to think again.”
“The Minister is a good person and I know he will have to toe his FCDO line, but he knows that this measure is not supported on his own side. He knows the cross-party concern that there is. He knows the many members of his own party who have spoken out powerfully in recent weeks. Former Ministers and people from all different political persuasions within his party, some of whom I disagree with on many issues, have spoken passionately and powerfully on this one. It is breaking our promises to do our fair share. It breaches the cross-party consensus in the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015. The Government need to rethink. We are heading into that crucial G7 summit, where health is key on the agenda. We have the COP summit coming up, where climate change and its impact are so crucial.”
“The very least it could do is be transparent and open and engage with some of these organisations, which are on the frontline and are responding to the covid pandemic and these threats with the moral purpose that I think is at the heart of being British, and for which we have had cross-party support for decades, particularly when tragedies such as covid and other diseases have hit. Will the Minister commit to publishing urgently the scale of cuts to NGOs and, specifically, faith-based organisations? What role does he see for them in responding to the primary and secondary impact of the crisis? How can it be justified to make these cuts when his Department is also admitting that famine is occurring in some of these countries, not just that they are at risk?”
“One NGO executive said: “FCDO said we should not engage with the press as it could affect fund allocations!...But obviously the more outrageous and sinister the more senior it was, and the more organised and deliberate.” Another executive from one of the NGOs said that FCDO officials were not being communicative, and “we haven’t been able to get much out of people because” the FCDO “are closing down all communications with everyone because of the cuts.” Report after report after report is coming out about the way the Department is handling things.”
“We have heard about the potential impact on Voluntary Service Overseas —one of our national treasures, which enjoys cross-party support. It ensures human-to-human contact and does work in communities around the world. It is under threat, like the other organisations that we have heard about. There are deeply disturbing reports today from William Worley on the Devex website that the FCDO is allegedly gagging NGOs from speaking out, even as their budgets are slashed. There are some quite extraordinary reports. They are anonymous, because many of these organisations are frightened to speak out.”
“They are also proposing to cut aid to Syria, Nigeria and other countries facing conflict and instability, which have been worsened by covid, including Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and other places. It is an absolutely absurd decision to be making at this time. The situation in Ethiopia could not be starker. Millions are facing famine, and huge areas are without humanitarian access. There were significant reports of horrendous sexual violence in the media over the weekend. This is exactly the wrong time for us to be cutting back and retreating from some of these crises, which have been exacerbated by covid. I want to end with some questions to the Minister. He knows that the covid-19 pandemic has had a staggering impact well beyond health, so why cut at this time? Why are the Government going to do that?”
“That is extraordinary, given that the region has been hit by covid-19, desertification, climate change, potential famine, and the multiple conflicts that affect people in that region. At the same time, we have British troops stationed in the Sahel, working alongside the French and the United Nations, trying to build stability. It is perverse to be cutting support for our development and humanitarian response while we are responding to the consequences of some of that. Our brave troops are putting themselves on the line to protect civilians, and are working alongside the United Nations and others. The Government seem to be doing two completely contradictory things—one with one hand and one with the other. As I mentioned, the Government are proposing to cut aid to Yemen from £164 million last year to £87 million this year.”
“In particular, it is renowned for its work with vulnerable children. Christian Aid has been working in conflict-affected areas in the Sudan with those who face sexually based gender violence. As I said, many of those challenges have increased during the pandemic, so that is crucial work. Will those projects be under threat because of the cuts that are coming? The hon. Member for Strangford referred to the fact that 39% of international charities that receive funding from the Government said that cuts have already affected them seriously or very seriously, and 42% have received very serious or serious hits to their funding. It is quite extraordinary, given the growing threats in regions such as the Sahel, that we heard in the media the other week that the Government will reduce overseas development aid in the Sahel region by 90%.”
“They will not only cut their programmes in the short term, but we will lose that expertise, those connections and the impact that they can have—often in prevention, in advance of future crises. The Society of Daughters of Mary Immaculate—an organisation linked to the Catholic Church—did work in South Sudan around covid-19, providing advice on the radio and delivering hygiene projects. I mentioned World Vision, which I used to work for. It works in 100 countries and is now the largest Christian non-governmental organisation in the world. It has put huge effort into fighting covid-19, and has pledged $350 million towards emergency response for 72 million people. Seventy countries have benefited from its support and work on food security and livelihoods, or its work with children and on strengthening health systems and preventive measures.”
“As cases of coronavirus increased in Ethiopia—a country that will later be debated in the main Chamber in the light of the terrible humanitarian situation in Tigray—Catholic hospitals and health centres used their reach to provide hygiene materials and raise awareness among rural populations of how to protect themselves against covid, and have made cash transfers to some of the most at-risk populations in Tigray, who have suffered gravely and now face potential famine. CAFOD Ethiopia was able to raise funds and repurpose existing programmes to reach 1.4 million people through early-stage interventions. We must not forget that some of these organisations have decades of experience, links and community partnerships, which will be at risk if they are unable to access the funding and support that they need.”
“We have seen where that has gone wrong in the past, but we have also seen where those institutions have played an absolutely critical role in the pandemic by providing advice. The Catholic Church and its charitable organisations, such as CAFOD and SCIAF, have done work on education, sustainability, disaster relief, peacebuilding, good governance building, fighting misinformation, and working with indigenous people, using the trusted voice of the Church, which people see as a source of advice and support in these critical times. They have been working in some of the most volatile and fragile countries, such as Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CAFOD has helped to provide food parcels to 30,000 people in rural Guatemala who face food shortages because of the pandemic.”
“I will return to some of the positive examples of how faith-based organisations and Churches are helping, as exemplified by some of the many examples that the hon. Member for Strangford mentioned. There are far too many organisations to list, but I will name a few. As the hon. Gentleman pointed out, it is estimated that 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group, so faith and religious institutions are crucial in shaping people’s behaviour, in identifying at-risk groups, and in supporting people with services in communities. Many communities rely on religious communities to access knowledge and advice—for example, on issues related to health—because they see those institutions as trustworthy.”
“Human rights have been threatened in so many places around the world. Hunger has forced parents to send children to work or beg. Women and girls have had to resort to selling their bodies for sex simply to eat. World Vision says that 8 million children have been forced into child labour or begging. An estimated 31 million cases of gender-based violence were predicted in 2020 because of covid-19. Those are shocking statistics for this House to hear as we make crucial decisions about our future aid spending and development policies. Lastly, UNICEF suggests that 9.7 million students could drop out of school because of the effects of covid-19, despite all the fantastic progress—for which there has been cross-party support in this House for many years—made through initiatives such as “Education for All”.”
“It is not morally right, makes little economic sense, and stores up future costs for us through the impact on global growth, tackling poverty and inequality, and of course, future instability. The UN estimated that 132 million more people could fall victim to chronic food insecurity in 2020. I was struck by the answer a Minister gave me the other day, pointing out that people are already in famine in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, and that millions more are at risk. Ministers know that, yet they are cutting aid and support for the programmes at the very time that people are in famine. Look at the situation in Yemen. The International Rescue Committee has shown that the cost of a food basket has gone up by 35% in the last year in a country that we know has been devastated by war and humanitarian disaster.”
“The UN estimates that in 2020, 1 billion people in low to middle-income countries spent 10% of their entire household budget on healthcare. Tragically, we can expect huge increases in unemploy-ment. The World Health Organisation has suggested that nearly 1.65 billion could lose their job or money-making activity, increasing the number of people on the most marginal incomes. The UN estimated that 71 million people would fall back into poverty in 2020. Those are extraordinary figures of which the Government are only too well aware. Despite all those challenges, however, global foreign aid is set to decline for the first time in many years, and tragically, the UK is one of the countries leading those cuts.”
“He stated that the impacts of covid-19 on TB might add 1.4 million deaths, and that 50 million children in Pakistan and Afghanistan may now not receive a polio vaccine in an area where polio is a real threat. STOPAIDS, with which I work closely, has stated that 11.5 million people have had inconsistent access to the crucial antiretroviral drugs for HIV over the pandemic period, and 75% of the UN’s “Global Fund” HIV/AIDS programme has reported moderate to high levels of disruption to service delivery. We have seen huge economic impacts: there has been an impact on global growth, and Oxfam has dubbed it a twin crisis of health and economy. Millions more will be pushed into extreme poverty and will lack access to public services.”
“Until the pandemic hit in 2019, we had actually witnessed a steady decline in maternal and child death rates around the world, including a huge boost in funding for childhood immunisation, which increased by 41% since 2010 according to the UN. Those accomplishments now risk being in vain as the World Health Organisation has reported that 70% of surveyed countries have seen a decrease in the number of routine immunisations, and major shortfalls in emergency units and facilities. Again, listening to Scottish organisations the other week about the situation facing some of Malawi’s hospitals was absolutely shocking. Aaron Oxley, executive director of RESULTS UK, has stated that at least 80 million children under the age of one are at risk of missing out on routine vaccines for diseases like measles, polio and diphtheria.”
“It has worsened economic inequalities, affected education, and diverted resources from other healthcare and disease challenges. It has allowed repressive regimes to threaten human rights further. It has created the space for extremism to flourish from Mozambique to the Sahel. It has destabilised fragile states and Governments and in some cases, it has tragically taken the lives of both political and faith leaders as well. The impact on those marginal groups, as I said, has been horrendous. Let us look at health. Even before covid-19, more than half of the world’s population still did not have access to all essential health services and unfortunately that has gotten worse. I have spoken to many people from Sierra Leone to Malawi and from many other contexts over recent months.”
“Let us reflect on what challenges we face with the covid crisis. Scotland’s International Development Alliance pointed out: “It has been said that this disease ‘does not discriminate’—but that’s not true. If you are already a marginalised or vulnerable group, this pandemic will affect you more.” That is very true. Beyond the immediate death toll and the devastating impact it has had in this country and in so many others, the pandemic has highlighted how those who are often marginalised, other minorities, frontline workers and those on marginal incomes who are already struggling to make ends meet have been disproportionately affected by covid-19 and its indirect impacts. The crisis has highlighted the gaps in gender equality and made them worse.”
“To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” It is no surprise that Church and faith-based organisations have come to play a critical role in empowering the most marginalised and healing the wounds left by war, natural disasters or, indeed, this pandemic. I think about the work of the Somaliland Muslim community in my own constituency helping to rebuild their country and to encourage its development since the conflicts of the early 1990s; I serve as the secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on Somaliland. I also think about the remarkable generosity of our Sikh, Hindu and Jewish communities, and of their related organisations. Faith, belief and moral duty are incredible motivators and they enable people to do incredible things in some of the most trying circumstances around the world.”
“The very morals and values on which basis such generous and selfless acts are done by both these organisations and their donors are inspired by the same beliefs that drive many people in their faith and, indeed, many Christians. As it says in the ancient prophets—the hon. Member for Strangford quoted the Gospels, but I will quote Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” Or we could look at Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?”
“Having worked myself for a Christian NGO, World Vision, I have seen first-hand the work that World Vision and other faith-based organisations do in many crises. I often reflect on its work with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that I witnessed in places such as Malawi, which has close links with Scotland and Wales—I declare my interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on HIV/AIDS—and on its work responding to disasters and catastrophes, such as the Boxing day tsunami in 2004. I saw how World Vision worked not only with its own partner organisations and its staff around the world but with other faith-based organisations, including those of the Islamic faith, in many of the countries affected, to respond to the devastation that left a quarter of a million people dead.”
“He is absolutely right to have illustrated the crucial role that NGOs, and particularly faith-based NGOs and Churches, play in both international development and humanitarianism, not least in response to this current pandemic. I thank the SNP spokesperson and commend the critical work of agencies based in the devolved nations as well, such as the Wales for Africa programme, many of the Scottish organisations mentioned today, and those in Northern Ireland to which the hon. Member for Strangford referred. They all play a critical part in this country’s response to the challenges that the world faces and reflect very powerfully on our moral intent as a country —one that is sadly being undermined by the current Government, which I will return to in due course.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mr Efford. I will begin by paying tribute to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon); I wish him a very happy birthday too. He was one of the very first Members to welcome me to this House, and our common Christian faith and commitment to humanitarianism, human rights, and international development mean that we have often found ourselves in the same debates over the years, raising very similar concerns. He knows that the House has a huge affection for him, and I am always delighted to hear him speak on these crucial issues. Indeed, I endorse many of the points he has made today, not least around the 0.7% commitment and our moral duties as a country.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend on that point, as she well knows, because of the leaseholders who are affected in my constituency. While the Welsh Government have put forward an additional £32 million in their new Budget for this very issue, leaseholders in Wales are still in the dark from the Government’s announcements about what moneys there will be for Wales and how the levy and tax will work. Does she agree that the Government should sit down with the Welsh Government Housing Minister and sort this out for the benefit of all leaseholders?”
“The Minister is being very generous. He kindly agreed the other day to speak to his ministerial colleagues about getting a sit-down meeting with Julie James, the Welsh Minister for Housing and Local Government, to resolve some of these unanswered issues. She did write on 10 February to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. She has yet to receive a reply. Can we please get that meeting arranged and please get some answers to her very reasonable questions on behalf of leaseholders in Wales?”