§ 43. Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Falkirk, West about the involvement of the Commonwealth Development Corporation in the Philippines.
§ Mr. RaisonI sent a reply to the hon. Member on 15 March.
§ Mr. CanavanRather than simply relying on the CDC—which has an obvious vested interest in telling the Minister whether exploitation, land-grabbing and terrorism are associated with some of the projects in which it is investing—is there not a case for an independent investigation into the projects? If that is not done, the Minister could stand accused of using millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to prop up the oppressive Marcos regime, rather than using that money to help the poor people in the Philippines.
§ Mr. RaisonI do not rely only on the CDC's views. The hon. Gentleman well knows that representatives of our embassy in the Philippines have visited the projects. In addition, an independent report has been produced by the hon. Members for Battersea (Mr. Dubs)—a Labour Member—and my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, East (Mr. Moynihan). They went to the Philippines, carried out a thorough survey and produced a report, which should be taken seriously. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman takes up the offer that he has received from the CDC to discuss the matter.