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UK Space Policy

: The hon. Lady makes an important point, which I was going to stress later: it is no good the Government just giving warm words and reassurance. Those things must be matched with the investment—spending is not just expenditure; it is investment in the industry. It allows the UK to play a major role with the rest of its European competitors. Space could well be used for many things. We all know that one of the Prime Minister's passions is Africa and how we are best able to help it. A company called Avanti is seeking to put a type of footprint over Africa that will allow various things on tele-medicine and tele-education to be streamed into Africa—things that we in Europe perhaps take for granted because we have overflying satellites that provide a footprint here. Unfortunately, the footprint is not as heavy as I would like it to be in Africa, and UK industry is able to play a role there. Such a role brings the industry into contact with the natural hazard working group, which the Prime Minister set up after the Asian tsunami in December last year. Its report said that"““there is a clear need for a sustainable and effective global multi-hazard early warning system building on existing capabilities and frameworks.””" Keeping our eye on the planet will help our ability to forewarn, particularly in Africa. Famine is one of the scourges in Africa, whose climate leads to failing crops. Being better able to predict and plan for such events will start to put the world in a better position to assist people living where natural disasters might occur.