HC Deb 10 December 1997 vol 302 cc993-4
2. Mr. Fraser

What is her Department's policy on reducing the debt burden of developing countries. [18422]

Clare Short

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer leads on debt policy but, as was set out in the recent development White Paper, my Department has a key interest in the rapid and flexible implementation of debt reduction measures that aim to secure debt sustainability for some of the world's poorest countries. We must try to mobilise international support for more rapid progress if we are to reach international poverty eradication targets.

Mr. Fraser

I am sure that the Secretary of State is more aware than most that Uganda has benefited from debt reduction assistance. Will she assure the House that Her Majesty's Government will call for a yes vote in Uganda's forthcoming referendum on whether to set up a democratic state, and that, if we do not see a yes vote, she will report back and tell us why?

Clare Short

That has nothing to do with debt relief, but it is true that Uganda will be one of the first countries to qualify, which is important if it is to sustain the great progress that it has made. It is committed to having a referendum on what form of democracy it should have. My view is that democracy, pluralistic democracy, and the right for people to select the candidate that they want and to oust Governments are crucial. We should not try to foist on Africa our precise model because, in some countries, it has led to terrible division on old tribal lines. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we will always work for the protection of democracy everywhere, but I will not suggest to Uganda that it should adopt our precise democratic model.

Dr. Tonge

Have the Government considered taking any measures to deal with the double standards that exist in multilateral and bilateral aid to countries that are in debt? I am thinking in particular of the difference between our attitude to Indonesia and Mozambique.

Clare Short

There is an enormous difference between our attitude to Indonesia and our attitude to Mozambique. Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world and has overcome a terrible civil war. The Mozambique Government are now co-operating with the side they fought in that war, when dreadful atrocities took place. That is a fantastic achievement for the people of Mozambique and for both Government and Opposition there. We believe that, against terrible odds, the Government in Mozambique are trying very hard to bring about development and to eradicate poverty. We want to help them in every way we can.

Indonesia is a middle-income country. As the hon. Lady knows, I have reviewed our aid and reduced parts of it to increase help to sustain forestry and to assist trade unions that are persecuted in Indonesia and non-governmental organisations in East Timor. That has not been easy to organise.

Our attitudes to the two countries are massively different because the needs and natures of their Governments are so different.

Sir Alastair Goodlad

What is Her Majesty's Government's attitude to Zimbabwe's international debts in the light of proposals to nationalise several million hectares of farming land without compensation, with access to the courts apparently to be denied to those who are deprived of their property? Economists and agriculture experts have warned that it will result in the collapse of Zimbabwe's agriculture industry, which is the country's biggest single foreign currency earner and generates two thirds of its domestic economy.

Clare Short

The situation in Zimbabwe is indeed very worrying. We have made our attitude to the current land proposals very clear. I have personally written to the Land Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We have said that it is true that land is distributed very unfairly in Zimbabwe and that we would be willing to back a properly organised system of land redistribution that gives some land to the poor and enables them to improve their livelihoods and reduces poverty in Zimbabwe, but we will not fund or support in any way a scheme that endangers food production and Zimbabwe's economic health. I hope that Zimbabwe's Government will pull back and go for a properly organised redistribution of benefits to people in Zimbabwe.