Wednesday Volume 672 4 March 2020 No. 34 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday 4 March 2020 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2020 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 817 4 MARCH 2020 818 Nigel Adams: Indeed. This is a great opportunity for House of Commons constituencies across all the nations of the UK. Leaving the EU provides an opportunity to explore the best ways to develop our trade and investment relationships Wednesday 4 March 2020 across Africa. [Interruption.] Does the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) want The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock to intervene? The trade connect programme, announced at the Africa investment summit, will support African businesses to increase their presence in international PRAYERS markets while supporting UK firms to source products. This will benefit UK customers with more choice and quality and lower prices. [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Greg Smith: I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments on the success of the Africa investment summit. Can he Oral Answers to Questions update the House on how we can further strengthen our economic partnerships with African nations? Nigel Adams: I certainly can. My hon. Friend raises INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT an important point. Weare working with African countries to promote mutual prosperity. This incorporates a range of initiatives to increase trade and investment, including The Secretary of State was asked— a new growth gateway, which will enable businesses to Developing World: Business Enabling access the UK Government’s trade, investment and finance offer for Africa all in one place. 1. Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con): What steps her Chris Law (Dundee West) (SNP): All of us should be Department is taking to help increase the ease of doing truly proud of our contributions to international business throughout the developing world. [901091] development, yet the opening questions demonstrate 6. Dr Jamie Wallis (Bridgend) (Con): What steps her the dangerous direction in which many in the Tory Department is taking to help increase the ease of doing party are looking to take aid spending. The Department for International Development does not exist to increase business throughout the developing world. [901096] the size of our business abroad, and nor is it part of the 12. Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con): What steps is Department for International Trade. Indeed, the public her Department taking to promote the ease of doing good will and trust in the Department has been because business throughout the developing world. [901102] every penny spent has been on helping the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. As the Government The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams): The UK undertake their integrated review, will the Secretary of Government work in 35 low and middle-income countries State reaffirm the Government’s commitment to a fully to implement legal, regulatory and policy reforms to independent Department, with Cabinet-level representation, make it easy for business, including from the UK, to and does she agree that this should not be compromised operate. Business-enabling environment reform was also for quid pro quo deals made to facilitate aid for trade? discussed at the UK-Africa investment summit, which secured commercial deals between UK companies and Nigel Adams: I can assure the hon. Gentleman that African partners worth more than £6.5 billion. the Department has Cabinet representation. I just make the point that trade can be and is a key driver for Gareth Bacon: Does the Minister agree that now we economic growth. It triggers positive changes in a country’s have formally left the European Union we have an economy, which helps raise incomes in the poorest exciting opportunity to build on our historic ties with countries, creates job, lifts people out of poverty and the Commonwealth and use close business links to help helps countries to move beyond trade dependency. developing countries create wealth? Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab): I welcome the Secretary Nigel Adams: I could not agree more with my hon. of State to her place. I will take an answer from the Friend. He makes a good point. The Government are Minister, but I warmly welcome her to her new position committed to working with our Commonwealth partners in the Cabinet. to support and deepen intra-Commonwealth trade, to On the Department’s role around investment in improve the business environments in Commonwealth developing countries,the International Labour Organisation countries to enable them to be more globally competitive, sets global standards for employment rights. As DFID and to facilitate the economic empowerment of women invests in African nations, will the Minister ensure that and young people by providing more business and those Governments meet international labour standards, educational opportunities. He will have an opportunity on if not even higher standards? Monday to take part in the Commonwealth debate. Nigel Adams: I can assure the hon. Gentleman that Dr Wallis: Now that we have left the EU, the UK can where we have these interests in developing countries we deepen and expand its trade with countries and businesses take those rights incredibly seriously. Our network fully across Africa. Can my hon. Friend update the House on engages with them, and this fantastic array of Ministers, progress made to develop that potential to the benefit of who will shortly do some travelling, will ensure that that constituencies across Wales? is the case. 819 Oral Answers 4 MARCH 2020 Oral Answers 820 Sustainable Development Goals: Climate Action Anne-Marie Trevelyan: I am absolutely committed to 0.7% and I am committed to spending it in value-for-money terms for the British taxpayers who are funding it and, 2. Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and most importantly,to ensuring that we help those countries Strathspey) (SNP): What recent progress her Department that are most fragile and most in need of aid and then has made on meeting sustainable development goal 13 on development, so that they can become strong independent climate action. [901092] countries themselves. Getting to that point involves doing lots of things, and not necessarily in the way we TheParliamentaryUnder-Secretaryof StateforInternational have done them before. We need to ensure that we have Development (Wendy Morton): Climate action is a priority a long-term investment perspective to help those countries fortheUKGovernmentandtheDepartmentforInternational to become self-sufficient. I do not want countries always Development. Wehave recently doubled our commitment to be dependent on UK and international aid; I want to international climate finance and will spend £11.6 billion them to be self-sufficient, proud countries that can stand over the next five-year period on helping poorer countries on their own two feet. tackleclimatechange.Since2011,ICFhashelped57million people cope with the effects of climate change and Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con): provided 26 million with improved access to clean energy. Given the likely effect of covid-19 on populations that DFID works with, what plans exist to establish contingency Drew Hendry: Drawing climate finance solely from funding to deal with mitigation for those populations the 0.7% will not be sustainable as climate change takes and to shift funding to the development of a vaccine, its toll, and drawing from the aid budget will mean cuts which is a global equity? for health, education and life-saving measures, so what plans does the Minister have to establish new and Anne-Marie Trevelyan: I thank my right hon. Friend additional sources of climate finance? for his question, and for the enormous amount of work that he has done in previous iterations of his posts in this Department and others. He is absolutely right; the Wendy Morton: I absolutely disagree with the hon. challenge of finding a vaccine for covid-19 is something Gentleman. Finance is critical, but this is about more that we are actively involved in, and we have already than just finance. The UK will be hosting COP26 this supported £5 million to the World Health Organisation. year in partnership with Italy and, as I am sure he is I was speaking to Dr Tedros yesterday to find out what aware, this will be happening in Glasgow. Tackling other support we could bring, not only in cash terms climate change is about so much more than just finance; but in expertise such as the skills of epidemiologists and it cuts right across the work that we do in the Department logisticians, which could help the WHO to drive forwards for International Development. in the weakest health systems across the world to ensure that they have the support they need. Departmental Funding Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab): Is the Secretary of State confident that her 3. Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP): What Department has sufficient resources to deal with the recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of consequences of the ongoing conflict in Syria, especially funding allocated to her Department. [901093] given the recent call from the UN high commissioner for refugees for the international support for refugees trapped in Idlib to be sustained and stepped up? The Secretary of State for International Development (Anne-Marie Trevelyan): My apologies: I am short on voice today, about which many in the House will no Anne-Marie Trevelyan: I think we are all continually doubt be very relieved. The Government’s 2019 spending horrified by the increasing abandonment of any kind of review allocated sufficient funding to ensure that the respect for humanitarian law that we are seeing in Syria UK can deliver on our commitment to spend 0.7% of from the regime, supported by the Russians.