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Debate on the Address

My Lords, the Queen’s speech briefly mentions a range of foreign policy and development areas, and the Climate Change Bill. So what will this mean and what will also need to be addressed over the next year? We know that many Asian countries are powering ahead. Even Vietnam, with its terrible history, is likely to reach middle-income status within a year or two. But many African countries—and many people within the developing economies—are being left behind. In many countries, achieving the key MDGs is a distant hope. We are looking, in the words of Oxford academic, Paul Collier, at the ““bottom billion””. Conflict and bad governance contribute in a major way to countries’ inability to develop, and failing states are expensive to us all, not only financially but also in terms of our security. Climate change has a huge potential to destabilise, so will the Climate Change Bill be tough enough to make a difference to the poorest countries? The poorest people are most vulnerable. What is happening in Darfur is due partly to the expansion of the Sahara and the subsequent displacement of people. As we have heard, a target of 60 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 is too limited. Scientific evidence suggests that emissions must be reduced by at least 80 per cent. Britain ought to be carbon neutral by 2050. Will the Government adopt that target and a scheme of annual, rather than five-yearly, targets to hold Ministers to account? What about governance? As Hilary Benn, then Secretary of State for International Development, stated last October, "““without good governance we will not be able to defeat poverty, or climate change, or war, or famine””." Two months later we had the case of BAE and Saudi Arabia. When the Minister replies, could he tell us where he and the new Prime Minister stand on combating corruption, even if it seems to hit British interests? Conflict undermines development. The noble Baroness spoke optimistically about DfID’s role in Iraq. Can the Minister tell us how effective he thinks it can be in the midst of insecurity and destruction? What is happening about those who help us there as interpreters? When we assess for asylum, it is on the basis of risk. Surely we need to do that here: the risk is likely to be as great for someone who has worked with the Army for 11 months as for someone who has worked for a full year. We know that Afghanistan was neglected as Iraq took its toll, and that it was the breeding ground for terror and the narcotics trade. We also know that the unpopularity of the war in Iraq is now affecting popular support for our operations in Afghanistan. However, there is still political agreement about the importance of international support for security and reconstruction in Afghanistan. Development there seems to have been too centralised, top-heavy and insufficient. Persistent poverty has promoted insecurity. I know that the FCO and DfID are well aware of this, but it is urgent that we improve the impact, efficiency and relevance of aid. It needs to be better coordinated and increasingly to use Afghan resources. Government capacity there is weak and corruption is widespread and, as the Minister said, much more needs to be done to build local government and local communities. While provincial reconstruction teams have been useful, are they now impeding the development of effective local institutions? It is said again and again that across much of the Middle East and beyond little will be resolved while the Israel/Palestine conflict continues, and the future security of Israel depends on the prosperity, not otherwise, of its neighbour. What can the noble Lord tell us about the troubling reports that the Israeli ministry of defence has apparently instructed an Israeli energy supplier to reduce fuel supplies to Gaza? I am encouraged that he, at least, seems to recognise that any future resolution of the problems there will need the involvement of Hamas, and I urge the Government to move further on dialogue with it. Bringing in all sides is what is required. Israel recently used cluster bombs in Lebanon. A new international treaty banning cluster bombs is expected in the next year. It needs to be as strong as possible. Is there a risk that the UK Government may place themselves on the weaker side of this argument as they fight to keep what they define as smart cluster bombs? The Government have shown signs of shifting their position. Could the Minister fill us in further? When does he think the Government will the come round, as I am sure they will, to banning all cluster bombs? Here, as in so many other areas, we will miss Lord Garden, who forensically took apart the Government’s case. As we identify sources of conflict around the world that jeopardize development, there is one which is surely being grossly underestimated: the impact of AIDS. Hitting, as it does, young adults and undermining economies and societies, it is surely the breeding ground of much future conflict. It is therefore especially important that we always keep in mind its impact on children. The Government intend to bring out a new AIDS strategy in December. I would like to be reassured that the earmarked funding for children will continue. The full integration of treatment which prevents mother-to-child transmission into reproductive, maternal and child health services is also essential. I recently visited a hospital in Cambodia that was treating AIDS patients. It was heart-breaking to see little children being treated there, none of whom should have contracted the disease had their mothers been tested and treated. There is the increasingly deadly combination of AIDS and TB. Will that be integrated into DfID’s new AIDS plan? At Gleneagles, in the Make Poverty History year, it was agreed that all who needed it should be on treatment by 2010. Will that target be met? If so, how? The Queen’s Speech hints at the Government’s priorities in international development. It stresses the importance of delivering the MDGs only eight years hence. In the end, what we do through trade as part of the G8 is likely to achieve more than what we may do through aid. Look at the transformation of Asia. But we have to address aid, debt and trade. In the recent past, the excellent work in development has been very much undermined by our foreign policy exercises. As the Minister answers his first Queen’s Speech, will he tell us whether he thinks we are now in a new era?