Tory MP Andrew Mitchell faced opponents from his own party as he won a battle to enshrine Britain’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid.
The member for Sutton Coldfield was backed by colleagues, including Meridan MP Caroline Spelman, as he co-sponsored a bill to give the pledge legal standing.
But he came under fire from some Tory backbenchers who said overseas aid did not always achieve its goals and that there was no need for a special law.
READ MORE: {}
Mr Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) helped turn the commitment, which is officially backed by all three major parties, into reality when he was Secretary of State for International Development from 2010 to 2012.
Has was one of the sponsors of a private member’s bill which will give the enshrine the pledge in law.
Mr Mitchell told MPs: “We have reached 0.7 per cent... we have ascended the mountain and reached the top. We should all be incredibly proud, particularly on the Conservative benches, that it was a Conservative-led Government who introduced and honoured this commitment to the poorest in the world at an extremely difficult time in our own economic affairs.”
Highlighting the work funded by British overseas aid, he said: “On vaccinations, Britain has taken a leadership role. Throughout its course, this Parliament will vaccinate a child in the poorest parts of the world every two seconds and save the life of a child every two minutes by protecting them against diseases that none of our children, thank goodness, die from.”
He added: “It is absolutely critical to get girls into school. It is the opinion of many of us that that is the way to change the world for the better.
Most Read
“Today, a girl born in Sudan is more likely to die in childbirth than to complete her primary school education. This Government, with all-party support, has introduced the girls’ education challenge fund, designed to ensure that one million girls in the most difficult parts of the world get an education.
“Those are world-changing actions which have been championed by Britain through a policy that is not the property of any one political party. It is not a Conservative, Labour or Liberal policy - it is a British policy and I believe that increasingly, our constituents champion that.”
But he came under fire from West Yorkshire MP Philip Davies, who said: “My right honourable friend keeps talking about how we should spend our money, but he might have noticed that we have not got any money.
“What he is actually asking us to do is borrow billions of pounds to pass on to other countries.”
Caroline Spelman (Con Meridan) said: “I want to draw on that experience to underline the importance of the bill. The 海角视频 is the first ever G8 country to reach the 0.7 per cent target, joining other, smaller countries such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates. It is significant that we are providing that leadership among the G8 countries.”
She added: “There is some dispute about whether we are the world’s seventh richest nation or whether we are rising up to be the sixth richest nation. Sixth or seventh, we are among the richest nations in the world and I believe that means there is an absolute moral requirement on us to help the world’s poorest.”
She was also challenged by Mr Davies, who pointed out that the target had originally been to spend 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product - a measure of economic output – on aid, but this changed to 0.7 per cent of gross national income, a different measure. He said: “The idea that this is not an arbitrary figure is just a load of old drivel.”
Don’t miss
Later in the debate, Lincolnshire Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh: Is not the most important point that if we fix a department’s budget as a proportion of the nation’s income, we grossly distort the actions of that department? Departments should spend what they can afford on what they want to do within the limits of what is in the national interest. This measure would be grossly distorting and un-Conservative.”
Somerset MP Jacob Rees Mogg said Parliament should not attempt to impose laws designed to ensure future governments behaved a certain way.
He said: “We are, in effect, spending the money of taxpayers as yet unborn.”
MPs voted to give the bill a second reading by 164 votes to six.