Zimbabwe

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:57 pm on 3 November 2008.

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Photo of Lord Howell of Guildford Lord Howell of Guildford Shadow Minister, Foreign Affairs, Deputy Shadow Leader, Parliament, Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs), Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 2:57, 3 November 2008

My Lords, amid the growing horror in Zimbabwe, is it not tragic that the currency is, in effect, dead, given that it apparently takes more than 40 billion Zimbabwean dollars to buy one American dollar? In other words, the currency is beyond recall. Will the Minister forgive me for returning to the point that I raised with him the other day about what is happening to UK hard currency aid to Zimbabwe? Are we sure that it is not being pilfered by the regime, and is this not a matter that we should raise with SADC to ensure that the money reaches the points it is meant to reach and is not simply siphoned off by this monstrous group who are driving Zimbabwe deep into the ground?