§ 76. Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provision for emergency relief is planned in the aid budget for 1988.
§ Mr. Chris PattenProvision will be sought for disaster relief and food aid in the 1988–89 Supply Estimates.
§ Mr. ClarkeDoes the Minister accept that, apart from the importance of increasing the figure — which has decreased since 1985–86—he should take on board the views of the Select Committee, which strongly recommended that global development funds should not be raided, as the Committee put it? In other words, the world's poor should not be asked to feed the world's poor.
§ Mr. PattenThe Select Committee is wise, but not perfect. We can help with disaster relief either from the general contingency reserve or, as we do currently, from within our contingency reserve. I think that the latter gives us more flexibility to operate as we are now doing and as our predecessors did.