§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid Britain currently gives to Fiji; and whether the United Kingdom's assistance has been reconsidered in the light of the Harare declaration.
§ Mrs. ChalkerOur bilateral aid programme consists of technical co-operation in the form of the provision of expert manpower and advice from the United Kingdom together with the training of Fijians in areas where it is most needed.
The Government keep their aid policy to Fiji, as elsewhere, under regular review.
Withholding aid would not further the objective of a return to democracy. No useful purpose would be served, for example, by depriving the ordinary people of Fiji of medical services made possible by our aid. There has been no evidence recently of a pattern of regular or systematic abuse of basic human rights in Fiji.