Contributions
908 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAid SpendingMy Lords, departmental accounts will be published in the usual way. I reassure the noble Baroness and, indeed, the NGOs to which she referred, that of course we are listening very…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingMy Lords, as I hope I have made clear, we will continue our commitment to 0.7% in the new department, as was said in the Conservative Party manifesto on which we were elected, and…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingAs my noble friend says, we are a leading donor to the WHO. We have already pledged £75 million to help it to lead international efforts to stop the spread of the virus and then…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingI thank the right reverend Prelate for her question. Like her, I have seen at first hand the incredible work that church and faith groups do around the world. I assure her that we…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingAs the noble Lord said, given the expected fall in gross national income this year, our commitments to aid spending have been reviewed across all departments. The strategy behind…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingMy Lords, I agree with the noble Lord that it should not be put at risk. It is not at risk. I point to the comments from No. 10, from the Foreign Secretary today and, indeed, from…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingAs my noble friend said, it is incredibly important that we think carefully about how we spend our 0.7% budget. Of course, Covid-19 has changed our perception of what we should be…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingMy Lords, we continue to be incredibly concerned about the situation in Yemen. In fact, we have an announcement today, given the impact of Covid-19 heightening the risk of famine…02 Sept 2020HANSARDAid SpendingMy Lords, the Foreign Secretary explained in letters to the Select Committees and placed in the Libraries of both Houses the priorities on how these decisions were made. We remain…02 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, the department is being merged to form the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The SDGs will remain at the centre of that department and the Cabinet…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development Goals[ Inaudible .] It is clear, however, that Covid-19 poses yet further challenges to reaching the sustainable development goals by 2030 and that urgent action to accelerate progress…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that the sustainable development goals remain central to the Government’s plans, both internationally and domestically. We remain strongly…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, it is of course important both that we work with the private sector and that we champion localised action as well. We work very closely with front-line responders and…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, as my noble friend says, due to the current circumstances, work to develop experimental statistics has been suspended. DWP’s current focus is on supporting people…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, as I said, the UK remains committed to the SDGs and to the underpinning pledge to leave no one behind as we strive to achieve them. The Prime Minister said in his…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsI completely agree with my noble friend. We know that we will not achieve all the goals without strong action on gender equality, and women and girls are key to their success. We…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, the weakness of developing countries’ health systems is one of the biggest risks of the global impact and spread of Covid-19. Equitable, resilient and sustainable…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, a globally accessible and affordable vaccine is, of course, needed to end the pandemic; we are working very closely with organisations such as the Coalition for Epidemic…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsThe noble Lord is right to highlight the issue of food insecurity. Pre-existing levels, before Covid-19, were historically high and the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions on trading…22 Jul 2020HANSARDCovid-19: UN Sustainable Development GoalsMy Lords, the Covid-19 crisis has had an incredibly negative impact on the education of millions of children—at least 1.5 billion children in more than 150 countries were out of…22 Jul 2020