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From House of Commons
Hansard 26th May 2005
Oral Questions to the Chancellor
Mr. Sadiq Khan
(Tooting)
(Lab): What proposals for debt relief the UK plans to bring
forward during its presidency of the G7; and if he will make
a statement. [991]
The Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown):
Following the European
Union agreement to double aid to 0.56 per cent. of GDP by
2010, Britain will seek European Union and G7 agreement on a
debt relief package for 100 per cent. relief for debts owed
by poor countries to the international financial
institutions. We will also seek agreement on a finance
facility for vaccination, which could save the lives of 5
million children by 2015, and for long-term finance to meet
the millennium development goals. I hope that there will be
all-party support for those initiatives.
Mr. Khan:
My right hon. Friend
the Chancellor recently had the pleasure of visiting Tooting
and meeting local faith groups who did so much in the
Jubilee 2000 campaign to help to cancel debt. What advice
would he give to the churches, mosques, temples and other
communities in Tooting who want to work with this Labour
Government finally to make poverty history?
Mr. Gordon Brown:
I thank all
the churches and faith groups, not only in Britain but
throughout the world for the work that they have done so far
in putting the issue on the agenda. I was pleased to visit
the constituency of my hon. Friend, and I welcome him to the
House. I saw him playing his part in making the case for
debt relief and increases in development aid. The next few
weeks are vital for those of us who wish to see a reduction
in global poverty. By the time of Gleneagles, I believe that
we can achieve an historic agreement that will make possible
greater aid and substantial debt relief. We have persuaded a
large number of countries to join us, we need to persuade
other countries over the next few weeks, and if we can do
so, the agreement at Gleneagles will release billions of
pounds to the poorest countries.
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