International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Bill

I must advise the Committee that if this amendment is agreed, I am not able to call Amendment 7 b...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for keeping his word this morning when he said that his...

I thank my noble friend Lord Purvis for that response. It is very helpful to have it on the recor...

Moved by

Lord Lawson of Blaby

8: After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—

My Lords, this amendment is also in the name of my noble friends Lord McGregor and Lord Tugendhat...

In response to that point, it is important for noble Lords and for the noble Lord himself to note...

It is our job to do our duty. That argument could have been used by the noble Lord and the noble ...

I support my noble friend in respect of this amendment. Our GDP is forecast to increase by more t...

My Lords, the whole concept of seeking to add legislative exceptions to the UK meeting its intern...

Will my noble friend allow me?

My noble friend will have an opportunity to sum up this short debate. I am sure that, in his argu...

The noble Lord has been asked two specific questions. One was asked by my noble friend, which was...

In maintaining our target of 0.7% of GNI, it is perfectly clear what profile GNI will have with t...

Again, can the noble Lord answer the question that I asked him? Is he content to have a situation...

I referred to the very useful Library paper which shows that the UK’s contribution to development...

My Lords, that most recent exchange between my noble friends Lord Forsyth and Lord Purvis has bee...

Moved by

Viscount Astor

18: Clause 2, page 2, line 15, at end insert—

“( ) the ...

My Lords, my amendment is, I hope, a modest and helpful one that might find some favour with the ...

My Lords, as we are looking at page 2 of the Bill and the amendment of my noble friend Lord Astor...

My Lords, I shall respond to the questions put to me. I apologise to my noble friend Lord Astor i...

My Lords, on that point about the use of multilateral organisations, does the Minister agree with...

I mentioned earlier the way in which the notes promising the assistance were carried through. Obv...

My Lords—

Perhaps I may make some progress.

My Lords—

I would like to make some progress. I am sure that the noble Lord will come back in again. I assu...

I am most grateful to my noble friend. I do not mean to harass her, but she did not really deal w...

I understand what my noble friend is saying. I can totally refute that. If the noble Lord were to...

Would my noble friend also agree that the Global Fund is probably one of the most cost-effective ...

I am extremely happy to endorse that.

My Lords, I was not really intending to speak on this amendment, but I want to get to the bottom ...

That was what I was refuting. The NAO report that the noble Lord quoted—I have read every word of...

Before my noble friend sits down, perhaps I may get absolute clarity on this. The reports states,...

What I am saying—I hope that it is clear—is that DfID needs to decide how it is going to spend it...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Astor for his amendment, for being consistent with the poi...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, for his response. Obviously I do not have...

I can assure my noble friend that that will still be the case: there will be flexibility.

I am pleased to hear that. It certainly satisfies one of my concerns. I still think that the depa...

Moved by

Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market

23: Clause 5, page 2, line 35, at end insert...

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, is very sad that he cannot be here—his name is on the ame...

My Lords, I support my noble friend Lord MacGregor. There should be no difficulty whatever in the...

My Lords, I, too, support this amendment. Like my noble friend, I was very surprised that the pro...

To start, I agree with noble Lords that the principle of independent evaluation is extremely impo...

I was puzzled when my noble friend said she does not believe that there should be a particular or...

Could the noble Baroness help me in respect of this amendment? Clause 5 says:

“The Secretar...

When the Bill was introduced, there was considerable concern about duplication because ICAI exist...

I am most grateful to my noble friend, but what then does Clause 5(2) mean when it states:

...

As a former Equalities Minister, perhaps we should take through some legislation saying that it i...

I am just saying that the guidance given does not provide for that. If she wants to change the gu...

No, you have diverted.

Yes, very stupidly, I have diverted from my main point. As we are here discussing not equality le...

I think that we are talking about equality legislation here—greater equality between well-off and...

That is a very important point, but can my noble friend answer my question, which is: why is it n...

I would like an answer to that perfectly sensible question. What is that subsection doing there? ...

Noble Lords can be totally reassured that DfID will continue to be fully scrutinised. My noble fr...

My Lords, as I hope that the House will appreciate, the sponsors of the Bill are responsible for ...

My Lords—

It has been a pleasure to allow my noble friend to intervene on me today, so I would be churlish ...

I am most grateful to the noble Lord for answering the question which the Minister did not answer...

Do noble Lords have the Bill here? Perhaps my noble friend might bear in mind that the Secretary ...

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords, I will of course allow my noble friend to intervene on my noble friend who intervened o...

I am most grateful to the Minister. She says that the Secretary of State has to make an annual re...

No, I am bringing my noble friend back to the fact that the Secretary of State makes an annual re...

And very good they are too. My issue is: how do you make an annual statement about how the Secret...

My Lords—

In a second. My noble friend’s amendment seeks to have an independent body that reports to Parlia...

With all due respect to the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, I suspect that most other Members in your L...

If the noble Lord understands it so well, perhaps he could explain it to me.

Oh!

My Lords, I wonder if I may draw this to a conclusion from my point of view before my noble frien...

Before my noble friend sits down—

Not this noble friend; I meant my noble friend Lord MacGregor.

Yes. I think that we have had sufficient discussion for the day about Clause 5(2), but we have st...

My Lords, I share my noble friend’s concerns about this. We have been given very inadequate answe...

Moved by

Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market

25: Clause 5, page 2, line 39, at end insert...

My Lords, it may seem a little odd, having been somewhat critical of how independent the Independ...

My Lords, I reassure my noble friends in relation to ICAI that it already reports to Parliament v...

My Lords, I have nothing to add from the point of view of the sponsors of the Bill to the reassur...

I am grateful for that response, and it encourages me that the discussion that we had on the prev...

Moved by

Lord Tugendhat

26*: Clause 5, page 2, line 39, at end insert—

“( ) The...

My Lords, I think that we are nearing the end—I hope so—of what, to me, has been a deeply depress...

I am grateful to my noble friend for giving way. With regard to this specific amendment, could he...

If I felt it was sufficient, I would not be suggesting the three propositions put down in the ame...

Is the noble Lord saying that the reports, or the information in them, have been insufficient? Co...

I am saying that the Secretary of State must include in each report an explanation of how the imp...

My noble friend has just told the House that the reports so far, which have already been provided...

I am talking only about the future. The amendment refers quite explicitly to the future. I hope I...

My Lords, I support my noble friend and very much agree with his remarks in respect of the conduc...

My Lords, my noble friend mentioned climate change—

Oh!

It is particularly relevant to what we are debating today, and I very much hope that the Minister...

I say to my noble friend Lord Tugendhat that I never expected anything other than full scrutiny o...

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to the points that have been made. I hope ...

I will make just two points. First, as regards participation in the debate, I was very pleased to...

Moved by

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

27: After Clause 6, insert the following new Clause...

My Lords, at last we are getting to the end of these amendments—long after sunset, I suspect.

Oh!

I hear gasps from the back. It is exactly the same argument. The argument by CND was that if we g...

I disagree slightly with my noble and tireless friend Lord Forsyth in that he talks about the oth...

I apologise for interrupting. I was not advancing that view: I was just repeating the view put ea...

Of course, the implications are that this is not the kind of encouragement that will move them be...

My Lords, on a number of occasions today I have referred noble Lords to the Second Reading debate...

My Lords, the hour is late so I shall be brief. My noble friend Lord Purvis made a point about th...

My Lords, of course, if Labour wins the next general election there will be a massive cut in the ...