Clause 7 - Terms on which assistance is provided
International Development Bill
3:45 pm
Mr Chris Mullin (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development; Sunderland South, Labour)
I cannot comment on what the hon. Gentleman was told yesterday. If he wants to draw the details to my attention, I will gladly check them out. As I said, we regularly review aid to countries, such as Zimbabwe, where the situation is changing—for the worse, I am afraid to say. We have reduced some of our aid programmes there and may have to make further reductions. The principle is that where we feel that we are still making a difference for the citizens—who, let us face it, are more the victims of the Zimbabwe Government than are any of us—we ought to continue to do our best until it can be demonstrated that our action is ineffective and pointless.
To return to the points made by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, I was just about right—I do not know whether you noticed, Mr. Butterfill—when I predicted that they would be those made on amendment No. 16 under another guise.