Overseas Aid and Development

Part of Opposition Day – in the House of Commons at 4:02 pm on 22 June 1994.

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Photo of Mr Philip Oppenheim Mr Philip Oppenheim , Amber Valley 4:02, 22 June 1994

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his courtesy in giving way. Was not a great deal of the debt to which he referred incurred in building grandiose industrial projects during the 1960s and 1970s? Has he seen the recent World bank report, which shows that the developing countries that followed market-oriented policies have done a great deal better than those that followed the policies of centrally planned economies, nationalisation and socialism? It is the countries that followed the latter policies which have incurred huge debts. That should raise some question in the minds of the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends about the effectiveness of socialist policies in general.