§ 4. Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend, East)Which nations in the Middle East receive grants and assistance from the Department. [132041]
§ The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn)DFID currently provides bilateral assistance to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territory, Syria and Yemen. We also provide assistance for Afghan refugees in Iran. Our future plans are set out in our regional assistance plan for the middle east and north Africa, published last month. In addition, the EC funds large programmes in several countries in the middle east; 19 per cent. of EC programme funding in the region is attributed to DFID's budget.
§ Sir Teddy TaylorI offer my congratulations to the right hon. Gentleman. Has he yet had time to establish whether there are procedures in his Department to make sure that the money given to those countries is properly spent and that there is no question of any money going to organisations that support terrorism in any way?
§ Hilary BennI can assure the hon. Gentleman that processes and procedures are in place precisely to protect against the concern that he raised. Concerns have been expressed as regards EC funding. Those have been looked into and they have not been substantiated. 103 In particular relation to the Palestinian Authority, under Finance Minister Fayyad big progress has been made in bringing the finances into shape and improving accountability, so much so that the United States Administration recently offered direct financial support to the Palestinian Authority. That is recognition of the progress that has been made. [Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The House is far too noisy. It is unfair to those who are interested in these items of business.
§ Mr. Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton)Following his much appreciated visit to the Palestinian territories earlier this year, is my right hon. Friend aware that in Bethlehem last week the deputy mayor demonstrated to me how the Israeli plan to build a wall through Bethlehem will wreck that city's economy, destroying tourism by preventing access to holy shrines and obstructing access to the Church of the Nativity and preventing access by owners to thousands of acres of agricultural land? What action can my right hon. Friend take even now to try to prevent the building of that hideous wall?
§ Hilary BennMy right hon. Friend draws attention to a serious problem for the Palestinians. When I was there at the end of July I visited Qalqilya where the wall completely encircles a town, leaving an 8 m gap where it joins at the other end, with all the consequences to which my right hon. Friend has drawn attention. The Government have made our views extremely clear—my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did so yesterday during Foreign Office questions—about the illegality of building the wall on Palestinian land, but it is a symptom of the problem, which is the lack of security, and that is why the peace process must be put back on track. We shall only deal with all the consequences to which my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) has just referred when we get peace in the middle east.