Published by , February 3rd 2010 at 4:53 pm
Campaign launched to commit UK to spending 0.7% of income on development aid
Davina McCall, Mariella Frostrup, Annie Lennox, Richard Wilson and Meera Syal were among the big names launching a new poverty campaign today, the fifth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s Make Poverty History speech in Trafalgar Square.
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In a campaign video released today – shown for the first time at the Labour Campaign for International Development’s launch on Monday – people are invited to show their support for a new law that would commit the UK to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on development assistance. People can do this by signing up to the Global Poverty Promise. The video (see right) highlights just how small 0.7 per cent is – yet how much of a difference it will make to lives in the developing world. Mariella Frostrup said: |
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“Forty years ago the UK made a promise to the world’s poor – to spend just 0.7 per cent of our national income on helping poor countries develop. We now have a chance to make that promise a reality, not just for today but for future generations.
“GlobalPovertyPromise.com is our opportunity to show that we keep our promises, even during difficult times. Whether it’s helping Haiti through a disaster or participating in the long term development of Africa the British public has a proud tradition of looking out for those less fortunate, let’s keep it up.”
Five years ago Nelson Mandela’s speech in London ahead of the Gleneagles summit launched the Make Poverty History campaign; today the Department for International Development is publishing an update of the progress the UK has made against the targets set.
Labour has tripled the UK’s aid budget and is committed to spending 0.7% of the UK’s Gross National Income on aid from 2013, with the Overseas Development Bill which was introduced to Parliament last month, while the Conservatives have refused to say they would introduce such a law.
Aid groups are concerned that Tory plans for international development could mean large sums will be diverted from tackling poverty.
• Sign up to the Gobal Poverty Promise and show your support.
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Sign up: http://is.gd/7CVL8 RT @leftfootfwd: Campaign launched to commit UK 2 spending 0.7% of income on development aid: http://is.gd/7CSRN
*davidTaylor85* "Campaign launched to commit …": Davina McCall, Mariella Frostrup, Annie Lennox, Richard W… http://bit.ly/9Cec6c #labour
How stupid can you get!
Excellent! More diamond encrusted learjets for our African dictator friends!
How many years have we been throwing money (both taxpayer money and charity donations) at Africa??
Whilst well intentioned this has to be counter balanced with full reporting of the utter corruption in some of these countries.
There is no point spending money in countries with corrupt regimes….it’s a pointless excercise.
On a separate point….Cameron has said he commits to 0.7%. The only downside it UK plc is virtually bankrupt. We’ll be begging for aid soon!
RT @leftfootfwd: Campaign to commit Britain to spending 0.7% of income on development aid: http://is.gd/7CSRN
What do you want to do with the money? Send mugabe and grace on another shopping trip to Dubai? Just get out of Africa and leave it to the Africans to run their own affairs. And if you have all this spare cash, why not help some of the old people in my village who have lost their post office, can’t afford to heat their homes and have to sell the only thing that they have in this world to be able to afford to go into a home.
How about spending 0.7% of our income reducing the huge deficit Gordon Brown and Labour have wracked up?
@ Fony Blair et al.
DfID’s aid is independently monitored and is accountable. It’s not going into anyone’s pockets.
On Cameron’s pledge on 0.7% how can the Tories pledge on 0.7% be trusted when the slashed the aid budget when they were last in power? They should put their money where their mouth is and back the bill, and promise they won’t divert the aid budget to climate change or MoD.
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/01/analysing-the-tories-claims-about-the-commonwealth/
Tories – same old nasty party then….
I also meant to add that some of these posts are scarily similar to recent BNP statements about international aid in light of theHaiti earthquake disaster.
Liz – I agree with you again – must be the new year!
I bet you were as furious as I was when Gordon Brown said he wanted “British jobs for British workers” – taken straight from BNP literature…
Liz – OK that didn’t last long! I really don’t think in view of:
Taking the 10p tax taken from the poorest workers in the country – cruel.
Refusing entry to people who fought and died in Labour’s overseas adventures for us – the Gurkha’s – cruel.
Or now the latest Gordon Brown stunt – refusing the money to equip our troops properly when he was chancellor (and before anyone starts; I believe the military and all the other witnesses at Chilcot Enquiry and not Brown or his cronies in the Downing Street bunker) – cruel.
This nasty party stuff, (apart from the fact the Tories were the first to use the term was from over 12 years ago)can only now apply to Labour since they are in power and are guilty of at least the three actions above – how many more examples do you need Liz?
Call the Tories the nasty party by all means – what do I care but please think before you do do. The “Liar Liar Pants on Fire” jibes are really only fit for the playground.
We are in an election year Liz, you can do better than that…
Anon – I am sure I have told you before that I think tat was stupid thing to say and am sure the GB also regrets saying it…..
Anon – what about the Social Chapter, minimum wage ( I have been hearing recently from Northern MPs whose constituents were in jobs paying £1 p/h (that was printed on the wage slips), tax credits, winter fuel allowance all the extra money that has gone into schools & hospitals, extension of maternity/paternity rights… I think we forget how bad it was before Labour came into power in 1997 and how worse it will become IF we let the Tories in in 2010.
I agree the Iraq was has left a bad taste in many people’s mouths but don’t let this dominate the agenda.
Liz – You’re missing the point here. You call the Tories “Nasty” that’s fine.
But it’s pots and kettles and all it does is makes the Labour Party look less like the broad church it is supposed to be and more like it is under Brown.
Nasty is lying about David Cameron the week his disabled son died and sending out that Lyam Byrne to assure us it was “just a storm in a teacup”.
Now call me old fashioned Liz but that is REALLY nasty regardless of which party does it. And it was Labour that was that nasty – not the Tories.
Before 1997 we weren’t controlled in the way we are now with no protests allowed in London and innocent people beaten up and killed by the Met. We have also had thousands of new offences by this horrible lot so the prisons are full. ID cards, CCTV – it never ends.
Remember as well the reason for this article is Cameron stating he will stick to this spend – Labour hasn’t done that. Labour is the nasty party Liz unless you are telling me it’s right to hit the poorest in society with proportionally the highest taxes. Are you?
Finally you have no idea how it will be without that unelected control freak Brown at the helm but we do know how bad it is with him.
It’s over Liz, move on. Brown will be old news a few months from now…
RT @leftfootfwd: Campaign launched to commit Britain to spending 0.7% of income on development aid: http://is.gd/7CSRN
RT @leftfootfwd: Campaign launched to commit Britain to spending 0.7% of income on development aid: http://is.gd/7CSRN
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Anon – where do I start….?
Re The Met – you make them sound as if they have been on a major rampage. It was tragic that their actions re the G20 summit resulted in a death but I do think he police are much more accountable these days and that there is more transparency but that does not condone or excuse the loss of a life.
I admit that not all Tories are nasty – the patrician-style ones such as Ken Clarke etc are decent, humane people, but there is still a very strong Thatcherite vein running through their blood and all this cuddly- ‘let’s hug a hoodie’ stuff is a complete veneer and I think what really informs and drives the party. Take a look at what Toby Young wrote about him in his blog yesterday:
/blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100024959/100024959/
I agree that Labour/New Labour is /was not perfect but they did more to help the many rather than the few and that STILL is the raison d’etre and why I would say the vast majority of people join the party and actively campaign for it on a regular basis.
There is still room to debate policies such as ID cards – it’s still not a given (and by the way, something that I am not a fan of for various reasons – cost as well as civil liberty aspect).
I still think and am worried by your(potentially dangerous) obsession with Gordon – I really don’t think it’s healthy for you!
In the last few days, polls together with the fact that Chris Grayling doesn’t understand statistics, has shown that the election is still there to be won and the more that people such as Osborne, Grayling et al are tested they fall at the first hurdle.
I think if you asked people who benefitted from the minimum wage etc and people who didn’t lose their homes or jobs in the last 12-18 months, they would be very positive towards GB and his masterful handling of the economy in what has been a very turbulent and uncertain period.
Liz – The general point I make and the one you seem unwilling to answer, is that the nasty party is now Labour and not the Tories and you brought this up not me!
The Tories were over a decade ago – old story.
Labour do not help the weak and needy – 10p tax removal – nasty.
Labour try to take compensation from our injured soldiers – nasty.
Labour remove the funding to properly equip our soldiers – nasty.
Labour arrest 86 year old Walter Wolfgang under the Terrorism Act – nasty.
I could go on and list dozens of similar “nasty” actions by this party even without mentioning the gap between the rich and poor increasing or telling lies about overseas wars.
I have no particular obsession with that useless bully Gordon Brown or the way he treats people in his own party (Peter Watt, Tony Blair, David Miliband etc) I just think that if more people like me were listened to and less unacceptable behaviour was accepted we could put a case to the British people for re-election.
By ignoring (so far you haven’t even given your opinion on any of my points eg Camerons son Ivan, 10p tax, Gurkha’s)the way Brown and his cohorts behave, what you are doing Liz is telling the party leadership that it is OK to continue like that.
Well it isn’t OK Liz and should have been stopped by having a general election after Brown forced Blair out. His behaviour was underhand and despicable then and Labour will pay for it at the polls.
The more you ignore the truth and Labour’s actions speak louder than words, the more Labour will deserve the whacking the election will deliver… Brown can’t dither and hide forever…
Liz – “Masterful handling of the economy”…
Labour is doooooomed…
Anon – given that this recession was much worse than ones in the 80s and 90s and was more difficult to navigate given the global nature of business & high finance these days, it is quite an achievement that we have had less unemployment, fewer house repossessions and small business closures – that is quite an important fact and one that you seem happy to ignore!
Liz – No other developed country on the planet is in the debt we’re in yet have you forgot Brown said we were “best placed to lead the world into recovery”.
Running a small business myself I understand more than most the mess we’re in.
Still waiting to hear you justify Gurkha’s, 10p tax and the like – just want to see if you think those actions aren’t “nasty” ; – )
Liz – Last comment on this. Just heard on R5 Live that personal and businesses going under are at an all time record high for the last quarter.
Still want to describe Browns handling of the economy as masterful?
I think you’ll find that we already contribute 0.7%.
It’s just that we don’t contribute 0.,7% through government….
Tim – Good point – it’s probably more put that way….