§ 27. Mr. Goodhartasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether he will give an assurance that aid to India will not be reduced as a result of the cuts in overseas spending arising out of Her Majesty's Government's new economic measures, in view of the special hardships facing the Indian people as a result of famine.
§ Mr. GreenwoodI cannot at this stage make any statement on the details of the reduction in Government expenditure overseas announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. Nor is it customary to state in one year what the level of our aid to India will be in the following year. Her Majesty's Government have great sympathy with the Indian people at this time of food shortage, and I can assure the hon. Member that the difficulties to which he refers will be fully taken into account.
§ Mr. GoodhartWhen will the Minister be able to give a precise estimate of the size of the cut which is to be made in his Ministry's spending overseas?
§ Mr. GreenwoodThe point was to some extent dealt with by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in the debate on the economic measures last week. What we do know is the size of the cut which can be contained within the programme, but the exact allocation of the cut between countries and between types of aid needs a good deal of very careful consideration. I shall certainly expedite it as much as possible.
§ Mr. WoodThat is exactly the point which my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Mr. Goodhart) wanted to probe. When shall we know what the precise details of this cut will be?
§ Mr. GreenwoodThese discussions will naturally take a little time, but I shall certainly let the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues know at the earliest possible moment.