Sir: Charles Moore is one of the minority who still
believe that the world popula- tion explosion is not a problem. It is sim- ply not true to say that people will only have children if they want them. There is a huge, unmet demand for contracep- tion and to preach abstinence lacks prag- matism.
Robert Kaplan's chilling article in Atlantic Monthly spells out the conse- quences of overpopulation in Africa. He predicts a coming anarchy based on tribal- ism, crime and disease. Rwanda is an exam- ple of this happening. The stork is becom- ing the bird of war.
I am going to the UN Conference in Cairo to try and minimise the risk of this happening. We will be aiming to confer power to parents to have children by choice, not chance. We will not be giving power in such matters to governments, as Charles Moore suggests.
Richard Ottaway MP
House of Commons, London SW1
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