14 June 2011
Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown attended a mass lobby of Parliament last Thursday (9 June) organised by ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Save the Children and Tearfund. The topic of the ‘Tea Time for Change’ lobby was the Government’s International Development plans.
The Coalition Government announced last year that its International Aid Budget would increase to 0.7% of Gross National Income by 2013, in line with the 2010 Election manifesto commitments of the Coalition Parties. Thanks, in part, to the aid given by the UK so far smallpox has been eradicated and incidences of polio have been reduced from 350,000 cases a year in 1998 to fewer than 2,000 today. The number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries increased from 400,000 in 2003 to 4 million in 2008.
Also present at the lobby was Mickleton resident Elizabeth Fleetwood who took the opportunity to question Mr Clifton-Brown on his stance over the UK’s International Development plan.
Following the lobby Mr Clifton-Brown said: “I had the privilege of serving as the Conservative Spokesman for International Development up until the last election and I have witnessed firsthand the dreadful impact of poverty on the lives of people abroad and how it translates as a problem at home.”
“The aid we will give as part of this programme is both morally right and is very much in our national interest. The fact is that every day nearly 25,000 children die from easily-preventable diseases and nearly 1,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth. As a direct result of the aid the UK gives, millions of men, women and children in the world’s poorest countries will receive immunisation and protection from diseases that would otherwise kill them.”
“Poverty breeds extremism, incubates disease and drives migration and conflict, if we don’t tackle the root causes of these problems we will spend much more time and money in future trying to deal with the symptoms and I therefore fully support the Government’s actions in this area.”
Photo: : Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP and Elizabeth Fleetwood
The Coalition Government announced last year that its International Aid Budget would increase to 0.7% of Gross National Income by 2013, in line with the 2010 Election manifesto commitments of the Coalition Parties. Thanks, in part, to the aid given by the UK so far smallpox has been eradicated and incidences of polio have been reduced from 350,000 cases a year in 1998 to fewer than 2,000 today. The number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries increased from 400,000 in 2003 to 4 million in 2008.
Also present at the lobby was Mickleton resident Elizabeth Fleetwood who took the opportunity to question Mr Clifton-Brown on his stance over the UK’s International Development plan.
Following the lobby Mr Clifton-Brown said: “I had the privilege of serving as the Conservative Spokesman for International Development up until the last election and I have witnessed firsthand the dreadful impact of poverty on the lives of people abroad and how it translates as a problem at home.”
“The aid we will give as part of this programme is both morally right and is very much in our national interest. The fact is that every day nearly 25,000 children die from easily-preventable diseases and nearly 1,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth. As a direct result of the aid the UK gives, millions of men, women and children in the world’s poorest countries will receive immunisation and protection from diseases that would otherwise kill them.”
“Poverty breeds extremism, incubates disease and drives migration and conflict, if we don’t tackle the root causes of these problems we will spend much more time and money in future trying to deal with the symptoms and I therefore fully support the Government’s actions in this area.”
Photo: : Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP and Elizabeth Fleetwood
