The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate on Overseas Development Aid (ODA) on 15th December 2022, with particular reference to famine in the Horn of Africa, urging the government against cutting back on aid:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Bennachie, for his excellent introduction, which was informed and passionate. I would also like to highlight and underline my deep regret at His Majesty’s Government’s cuts to official development assistance spending.
I find myself in touch weekly with some of the poverty here in our own country as I visit food banks, debt advice centres, or the clubs that some of our churches now run to give breakfast to schoolchildren. I am acutely aware that we have real need here in our own country, but it is of a completely different order compared with what many other countries in the world face. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, that we need to spend our aid carefully. It is actually quite difficult to spend large amounts of money. We sometimes find it difficult in this country and sometimes people do not spend it well. Of course we need to work at that, but the answer is not to cut our aid but to make sure that we are using it in the most effective way.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans stresses importance of Overseas Development Aid”
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.