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Debate on Monday, 30 March 2009, in the House of Commons, led by David Miliband. The answering member was Keith Simpson.

Africa

Debate on a motion that this House has considered the matter of Africa.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
490 c672-759 
Session
2008-09
Department
Department for International Development
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 490 c683 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr. Speaker had imposed a time limit of 12 minutes on Back-Bench contributions. Since that ti...
Speaker | 490 c705 (Link to this contribution) Order. Since the time limit was imposed on this debate, the number of people seeking to catch my eye...
Show all contributions (151)
William Cash | 490 c691 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend implied, but did not quite spell out the word, corruption. Are we equally determined ...
Keith Simpson | 490 c691-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises an important point, and successive Governments have tried to do that. It is no...
Speaker | 490 c692 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps we may now continue the debate in the usual way.
Keith Simpson | 490 c692 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker, I got carried away by the repartee.
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c692 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of corruption, does the hon. Gentleman agree that part of the problem in incredibly poo...
Keith Simpson | 490 c692-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a powerful point, and the same is true for the police. Sometimes a culture devel...
Speaker | 490 c693 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind all right hon. and hon. Members that the time limit on Back-Bench speeches is now 14...
Tom Clarke | 490 c693-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall limit myself to three specific subjects that I believe to be worthy of attention, which were...
Jeremy Corbyn | 490 c694-5 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in what my right hon. Friend is saying. Before he leaves the subject of the Congo, d...
Tom Clarke | 490 c695-6 (Link to this contribution) I do indeed, and that is one of the reasons why I intervened on my right hon. Friend the Secretary o...
Keith Simpson | 490 c683-4 (Link to this contribution) You have brought joy to many colleagues, Madam Deputy Speaker. I should begin by saying that my righ...
Andrew Murrison | 490 c682 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), perhaps slightly unfairly, attacked Presiden...
David Miliband | 490 c682-3 (Link to this contribution) Of course. The continuing reforms of the CAP are important. The hon. Gentleman knows that, as a resu...
David Miliband | 490 c680 (Link to this contribution) I know that the hon. Gentleman takes a deep interest in these issues, and he raises a very important...
Tony Baldry | 490 c680 (Link to this contribution) The whole House will support what the Foreign Secretary has said and what the Government are doing i...
David Miliband | 490 c682 (Link to this contribution) I, in turn, am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's question. However, to say, "It's about time" in res...
John Bercow | 490 c682 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for giving way and I welcome his comments. Given that Benin, ...
David Miliband | 490 c681-2 (Link to this contribution) If the House will allow me, I am happy to give my hon. Friend's question the detailed response that ...
Mike Gapes | 490 c681 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend referred earlier to conflict prevention. Does he share my concern that because ...
Keith Simpson | 490 c686 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly add it to my list, but one of course then gets into a debate about the definition o...
Jeremy Corbyn | 490 c686 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman gets carried away with paeans of praise about Morocco, would he care to ca...
Keith Simpson | 490 c686 (Link to this contribution) As I said at the beginning of my speech, I am very conscious that caveats may be expressed about all...
Michael Jabez Foster | 490 c684 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman appears to be chiding the Government for a lack of consistency in having debates ...
Keith Simpson | 490 c684 (Link to this contribution) We are indeed the Opposition, and we have had debates in Westminster Hall. I am talking about the fa...
Hugh Bayley | 490 c684-5 (Link to this contribution) The impact of the economic downturn is already being felt in many African countries. In Tanzania las...
Keith Simpson | 490 c684 (Link to this contribution) Excellent. I am very pleased to hear that. We also welcome the opportunity to discuss Africa in the...
Andrew Murrison | 490 c686 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend add to his list Morocco, which has strong and increasing trade links with this c...
Keith Simpson | 490 c685 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised an interesting point. Different views are expressed by different count...
Tony Baldry | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) Are not the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr. Clarke) and the Minister p...
Keith Simpson | 490 c688 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because that is a point that I want to develop. A great deal of sym...
Keith Simpson | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) I used to have cadets like this at Sandhurst. They were in the bottom 10 per cent. of the intake. Wa...
Ivan Lewis | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman confirm not only that there will be an individual Department, but that it wil...
Keith Simpson | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I think one follows from the other. I am quite happy to reconfirm that—[Interruption.] Does the...
Keith Simpson | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) In between his gossiping, the Minister wants to intervene, so of course I give way to him.
Keith Simpson | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) I am genuinely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for allowing me to make that point quite clear. ...
Tom Clarke | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I say that I am slightly worried by his remarks. He said earli...
Keith Simpson | 490 c691 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Lady for that intervention; she has taken a long interest in this area and I ...
Keith Simpson | 490 c688-90 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend always makes an interesting European point at this stage in a debate. I shall look in...
Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top | 490 c691 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that I always chunter. He talks about "African-led solutions", and we have ...
Keith Simpson | 490 c690 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady has been chuntering in a delightful way for the past half an hour, so of course ...
Mike Gapes | 490 c688 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the Opposition agree with the Foreign Affairs Committee, which expressed concern w...
Keith Simpson | 490 c688 (Link to this contribution) —the Chairman of which wishes to intervene. Of course I give way to him.
William Cash | 490 c688 (Link to this contribution) I am sure my hon. Friend is aware that, as part and parcel of some of the reduction in Foreign Offic...
Keith Simpson | 490 c688 (Link to this contribution) I am always prepared to hold a seminar on the history of foreign affairs for the benefit of the Fore...
David Miliband | 490 c672 (Link to this contribution) I will bring in my hon. Friend, and then I will try to make a bit of progress.
David Miliband | 490 c672 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman anticipates some of the points that I will try to make in the course of my speech...
Bob Spink | 490 c672 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way, especially so early on in his speech. May I ...
David Miliband | 490 c673 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes it impossible for me to turn down her entreaties, but then I will make some pro...
David Miliband | 490 c673 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a really good point. I do not want to give a preview of my speech, but after de...
Baroness Hoey | 490 c672 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State spoke about Gleneagles, at which there was a very useful meeting. Will he say...
David Miliband | 490 c672 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House has considered the matter of Africa." We have called this debate to ...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c674 (Link to this contribution) My question follows on from that. The president of the World Bank, Bob Zoellick, will be in London t...
David Miliband | 490 c674 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend speaks with much experience as well as expertise on these matters. He is right to poi...
Alistair Burt | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) While the right hon. Gentleman is talking about institutions and taking interventions, may I put it ...
David Miliband | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) One always has to be cautious in predicting institutional reform in bodies that embody all sorts of ...
David Miliband | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) Yes. The hon. Gentleman follows these issues carefully and knows that the Government have been stout...
David Miliband | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) I ask the hon. Gentleman to contain himself.
Sally Keeble | 490 c673 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. He rightly pointed out the importance of our commitment to th...
David Miliband | 490 c676 (Link to this contribution) No. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will find a way to get his point in. I trust that he has suffi...
David Miliband | 490 c676 (Link to this contribution) No. After I have made some progress, I will be happy to take further interventions.
Pete Wishart | 490 c676 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
David Miliband | 490 c675-6 (Link to this contribution) There is a longer debate to be had about the successes and failures of IMF "reforms", including in t...
Jeremy Corbyn | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) I was interested in what the Foreign Secretary said about the International Monetary Fund and the Wo...
Jeremy Corbyn | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) I want to intervene on this particular point.
David Miliband | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) Can my hon. Friend let me make a little progress?
Andrew Pelling | 490 c679 (Link to this contribution) I was pleased that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned Sierra Leone. It is a rather poor nation, unfo...
David Miliband | 490 c678 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is not the part of development work that gets the most ...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c680 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my right hon. Friend's indulgence. On Kenya, will he say a few words about the rol...
David Miliband | 490 c679-80 (Link to this contribution) All friends of Sierra Leone, in all parts of this House, should be concerned about the situation the...
David Miliband | 490 c676-8 (Link to this contribution) I was about to come to the fact that there has been increasing disregard of constitutional rule, mos...
Tom Clarke | 490 c678 (Link to this contribution) I very much welcome what my right hon. Friend is saying about conflict prevention. Does he agree tha...
David Miliband | 490 c678 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has taken a lifelong interest in these issues and speaks of them not only with ...
Pete Wishart | 490 c676 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that it is not beneath the Foreign Secretary to take an intervention from one of the small...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c709-10 (Link to this contribution) Although it would be good to talk about Africa as a whole, I will limit my remarks to a country that...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 490 c708-9 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned the European Union's Everything but Arms treaty. He will be aware tha...
Lord Lilley | 490 c709 (Link to this contribution) Had the proposals that we have been advocating been introduced, it would not be necessary to move aw...
Bruce George | 490 c717 (Link to this contribution) Few Members can match the eloquence displayed by the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Sir Nicholas Wint...
Barry Sheerman | 490 c717 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening closely to the debate while outside the House. Does my right hon. Friend not a...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c710-3 (Link to this contribution) It is excellent, as the hon. Gentleman says. Unfortunately, the answers to my questions are somewhat...
Nicholas Winterton | 490 c713-7 (Link to this contribution) I am very pleased to follow the hon. Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas), who has delivered a ver...
Lord Lilley | 490 c708 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that President Obama is as relieved as I am to know that he has my hon. Friend's support. ...
John Bercow | 490 c707-8 (Link to this contribution) I heartily endorse the point that my right hon. Friend has just made. I probably was being slightly ...
Chris Mullin | 490 c702-4 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that may be true. I do not want to go too far down that road; I made my point in passing. To r...
Lord Horam | 490 c704 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?
Chris Mullin | 490 c704-5 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me, I will not; I am running out of time. Finally, I wish to make one tentative point. The ...
Lord Lilley | 490 c705-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), who is a distinguish...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c706 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is making a powerful and legitimate point, which I support. Does he also ac...
Lord Lilley | 490 c706-7 (Link to this contribution) That is one of the five points that we advocate and that I shall outline shortly. We believe that w...
Nicholas Winterton | 490 c707 (Link to this contribution) How does the policy of the European Union influence our opportunity to take goods, especially food, ...
Lord Lilley | 490 c707 (Link to this contribution) We collectively make decisions on trade in Europe—that may or may not be a good thing; it is not wha...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c702 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the very fact of the UK's considerable commitments in Iraq and Afghan...
Lord Stunell | 490 c700-1 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I fear that the hon. Gentleman is right. I hope that, among other things, the United Kingdom wi...
Chris Mullin | 490 c701-2 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for not being able to be present for the winding-up speeches; I have an engagement which...
Lord Stunell | 490 c700 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady; it is helpful to have the opportunity to explain what I mean. It is absolutel...
Chris Mullin | 490 c700 (Link to this contribution) I am not certain, but I think that the hon. Gentleman will find, if he checks, that most of the arms...
Lord Stunell | 490 c697-9 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has a lot of experience in these matters and he is absolutely right. The sad th...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c699 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that we must not reward failure. I am alarmed by that—what does he mean by i...
Lord Stunell | 490 c696-7 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by apologising on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr. Dav...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c697 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware of the importance of bed nets for children in Africa to sleep under at night...
John Bercow | 490 c702 (Link to this contribution) I understand the significance of the hon. Gentleman's point, but in referring to what is taking plac...
Chris Mullin | 490 c702 (Link to this contribution) It is too early to say that for sure. We have heavy commitments in Afghanistan—a different issue fro...
John Bercow | 490 c739 (Link to this contribution) I wish I knew for certain, but I suppose that I feel, in concert with my hon. Friend the Member for ...
John Bercow | 490 c737-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure for me to follow the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes), who has vast exper...
Tom Clarke | 490 c739 (Link to this contribution) As we would expect, the hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech. I hope that he will forgive my...
Alistair Burt | 490 c746-9 (Link to this contribution) When attending debates such as this one, I sometimes feel that this House would be rather better rec...
Michael Jabez Foster | 490 c745-6 (Link to this contribution) It is right that in Hastings, Sierra Leone, and Sierra Leone generally, there is a two-faith society...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c745 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend say a few words about the benefit of the twinning to citizenship, and about the ...
Michael Jabez Foster | 490 c742-5 (Link to this contribution) I guess that we do not need reminding—although it is always worth doing so—that the economic tsunami...
John Bercow | 490 c740-2 (Link to this contribution) I accept that that appears to be the case in the short term. I still maintain that the ICC decision ...
Christine Russell | 490 c750 (Link to this contribution) That sounds like a splendid idea, and I will certainly point the Secretary of State for Health in th...
David Drew | 490 c750-1 (Link to this contribution) I shall be very brief, to give the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) at ...
Simon Hughes | 490 c751-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a privilege to take part briefly in this debate, and I am grateful to the hon. Members for Cit...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 490 c753-6 (Link to this contribution) It is an honour to wind up this timely and informative debate. There is a proverb from the Kanuri re...
Lord Stunell | 490 c750 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making an attractive proposition. I wonder whether she is aware that it is a requir...
Ivan Lewis | 490 c756-7 (Link to this contribution) This has been an excellent debate that has demonstrated the deep passion and knowledge about Africa ...
Ivan Lewis | 490 c757-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the importance of a joined-up approach in the horn of Africa. ...
Bruce George | 490 c717-9 (Link to this contribution) I was going to make that point. However, although there is a superficial attraction, including in fi...
Bruce George | 490 c719-20 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and my hon. Friend has delayed my expressing it by 35 seconds. As a former colonial power, we h...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c719 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. Earlier, my hon. Friend the Member for Su...
Bruce George | 490 c719 (Link to this contribution) Yes, only 10 minutes. There has been Celtic solidarity. I shall give way, however.
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c722 (Link to this contribution) As all the hon. Members who have spoken have said, Africa is a big subject. I do not intend to try t...
Bruce George | 490 c720-2 (Link to this contribution) I was going to mention the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Electoral Reform International S...
Mike Gapes | 490 c720 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has referred to DFID's report, but has he seen the human rights report produced...
Nicholas Winterton | 490 c722 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that there are other countries in which those who extract miner...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c723-4 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to acknowledge that, but Botswana pioneered the arrangements and Namibia has wisely follo...
Tom Clarke | 490 c724 (Link to this contribution) Given that the right hon. Gentleman was one of the principal supporters, I am glad to say, of the In...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c724-5 (Link to this contribution) The honest answer is no. One can never get enough information or enough clarity, but I am grateful t...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 490 c725-7 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, that is exactly right in terms of the publication. I acknowledge that entirely as the hon. G...
Nicholas Winterton | 490 c725 (Link to this contribution) Thanks to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
Tony Baldry | 490 c730-2 (Link to this contribution) I think that we would all agree with what the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) said about Zimbab...
Baroness Hoey | 490 c727-30 (Link to this contribution) I welcome this debate on Africa and the wide-ranging opinions and views that have been expressed acr...
Tony Baldry | 490 c732-4 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that has been a substantial weakness. A further weakness is that African leaders are very wary ...
John Bercow | 490 c732 (Link to this contribution) Has not one of the weaknesses of the African peer review mechanism been that a country can be peer-r...
Hugh Bayley | 490 c674 (Link to this contribution) Last week I was in Tanzania with the International Development Committee. I had the opportunity to s...
David Miliband | 490 c675 (Link to this contribution) I give way on this particular point.
David Miliband | 490 c680 (Link to this contribution) I would be delighted to say something about that. I liaised with the Kenyan authorities and asked th...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 490 c678 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that part of the problem faced by very poor countries that may have ...
David Drew | 490 c739 (Link to this contribution) As someone who shares the hon. Gentleman's interest, I appreciate all he says about the Sudan. Howev...
Mike Gapes | 490 c734-7 (Link to this contribution) It is impossible, even in 17 minutes, to cover a whole continent and the issues of great importance ...
Ivan Lewis | 490 c687 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that DFID will be an independent Department with a Secretary of Stat...
Christine Russell | 490 c749-50 (Link to this contribution) We have heard some excellent contributions tonight from Members on both sides of the House. Time is ...
Bruce George | 490 c719 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I shall not give way, as my hon. Friend has intervened on at least six occasions as ...
David Miliband | 490 c673-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Of course, the fact that we are off track to achieve th...
Subjects
Debts Developing countries Development aid Africa Democracy Human rights Humanitarian aid Disease control HIV/AIDS Economic situation Politics and government Trade Sierra Leone Zimbabwe Southern Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
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