John, on Tuesday the Prime Minister announced his decision to abolish one of the best performing and most important departments, the Department for International Development (DfID), a department that is crucial to global vaccine development, provides healthcare and helps the world’s poorest. To scrap a department during a global pandemic without first speaking to his Secretary of State, and without consulting his cabinet or
the development sector is not only reckless, but irresponsible and wrong. It is the wrong decision at the wrong time by a Prime Minister who wants to deflect attention away from his failings in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. DfID is a world leader in providing life-changing and life-saving support to millions of people around the world. It is consistently rated as the most effective, transparent department at delivering real value for money for British taxpayers. The government should be completely focused on steering our country through the challenges we face right now. We have had one of the highest death tolls from Covid-19 in the world, millions of
children are out of school and we face the worst unemployment crisis in a generation. Yet, the Prime Minister has decided to undertake a large-scale restructure costing millions of pounds of public money and instead, UK aid will be spent through departments which the TaxPayers’ Alliance found “neither contribute to poverty reduction or the national interest". This retreat from the global stage is a mistake and I firmly oppose this attempt to abolish the department. It will not only have a life-threatening impact on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, but it will reduce our ability to make the world safer, fairer and better for all. |
