§ 33. Sir G. Nabarroasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total United Kingdom aid to overseas under-developed countries in 1971–72 represents as the percentage of gross national product of the United Kingdom; and how much of such aid is food, given as food and not money to buy food by the recipient country.
§ Mr. WoodThe latest available percentage was 0.37 of gross national product in the calendar year 1970. Food worth £2.78 million has been provided during the present financial year.
§ Sir G. NabarroAre there additional opportunities for British farmers to export temperate foodstuffs to underdeveloped countries, not in the form of 30 financial aid but as food? Is my right hon. Friend inclined to encourage a policy of that kind to stimulate still further the expansion of British agriculture?
§ Mr. WoodBritain is a net importer of food Therefore, the more food we send as aid in this precise form, the more food we should subsequently have to import for our population.
§ Mr. LaneIs it not a fact that, on the latest forecasts, total British aid over the next few years is likely to increase at a faster rate than the rate of increase in our gross national product as a whole?
§ Mr. WoodIt is true that the increase planned in the aid programme represents one of the fastest expansions of any Government programme in this country.