Why we can’t pull up the aid drawbridge

By Lisa Nandy MP / @lisanandy

The Labour Party has a proud history when it comes to international development and its achievements in this area stand beside the best traditions of international solidarity. The fact that Cameron believed a commitment to overseas aid would be an electoral advantage, not a liability, is in no small part thanks to the wider Labour movement and its politicians over the last 13 years.

That’s why I was so pleased to meet a group of constituents who came down to Westminster as part of ‘Teatime for Change’ – a mass lobby of over 1000 people organised by Action Aid, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Cafod, Save the Children and Tearfund, determined to keep the pressure on the government to meet its commitment on overseas aid.

The interest amongst MPs was immense – over 120 attended to talk about the big obstacles facing the world’s poorest countries. With all the problems my constituents are facing in their everyday lives, it was inspiring to see so many people take an active interest in the plight of some of the world’s poorest countries.

I wasn’t quite prepared for the grilling I got from some of my youngest constituents who were pressing me on the weaknesses of the international tax system, and I wouldn’t rate Osborne’s chances under their scrutiny. But as I explained to them, it gives me a mandate to go and talk about these issues in parliament.

The government’s commitment to protecting aid spending is a welcome contrast to their actions at home. Last week, my constituents wanted to ensure that I would hold this government to account over its promises and meet the commitment Gordon Brown set down to legislate to spend 0.7% of national income on aid by 2013, which I promised them I would do.

But aid is just one plank of a wider strategy to tackle global poverty. Ensuring developing countries can tackle tax avoidance by multinational companies is also vital if they are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The OECD estimates that the world’s poorest countries lose three times as much revenue through tax evasion and avoidance as they receive in global aid. This is an issue Labour championed at the London G20 and one that the UK government should push for at this year’s G20, as well as calling for strong EU regulation on tax transparency.

In uncertain economic times it is tempting to pull up the drawbridge but the economic argument for action is as compelling as the moral case. While widespread poverty and corruption exist we will all bear the costs, whether in aid or global instability. As individuals, businesses and legislators we have a shared interest, as well as a shared responsibility to tackle some of the world’s most significant and pressing problems.