HL Deb 19 October 1992 vol 539 cc68-9WA
Lord Taylor of Blackburn

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the allegation made in a letter to the Liverpool Daily Post that more than half the money allocated for relief of victims of the Ethiopian famine and the Armenian earthquake was used to pay for RAF flights to those countries is true; and whether they will give an assurance that money allocated for relief work will not be used in this way in the future.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

I can reassure the noble Lord that the allegation is untrue; no money allocated by the Overseas Development Administration for either the relief of victims of the current Ethiopian famine or for the victims of the Armenian earthquake in December 1988 has been used to pay for RAF flights.

The ODA uses, and will continue to use, military aircraft for emergency relief in circumstances where it is the most efficient and cost-effective way of delivering such relief.