Official Development Assistance

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 1:07 pm on 26 November 2020.

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Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs 1:07, 26 November 2020

I do not think it is right to say that just because there is a percentage based on GNI, that means we can deal with a situation of the severity that we face now, with the worst economic contraction in more than 300 years and a budget deficit double that of the previous financial crisis. These are not ordinary times in which the natural stabiliser built into the target can apply. The hon. Gentleman asked how we will safeguard and prioritise; we have an allocations process. We are not going to salami-slice ODA across the different pots of money; we are going to make sure that we do it in a strategic way, and I will be taking that forward in the weeks leading up to Christmas.