Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Nicholas Winterton (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 13 May 2009 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Zimbabwe

Question: Unfortunately, Zimbabwe has been put on the back burner again, because other issues are dominating Parliament and international affairs. Does the Minister not agree that one of the most helpful actions that the Government could take would be for the Secretary of State for International Development to visit Zimbabwe and meet the Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, to give that very courageous man the credibility and support that he deserves? He seeks to lead his country out of poverty and deprivation.

Answer: Of course, it is not for me to arrange my right hon. Friend's travel itinerary. However, my serious response is that he recently met the Finance Minister, in whom we have a lot of confidence, and he has also met the Prime Minister in the past. My noble Friend Lord Malloch-Brown, the Minister for Africa, was at the inauguration of the new President of South Africa and recently met Morgan Tsvangirai and the new Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe. There is constant engagement and dialogue with the Government of Zimbabwe. We are clear about the support that we stand ready to provide and we have announced the resources that I mentioned in my earlier response. However, there can be no slacking in the message about the importance of political and economic as well as human rights reform. We remain concerned that, for example, political prisoners have recently been returned to prison. In those circumstances, we need to send strong messages about the pace of reform.

Secondary information