From Romil4 , Greenhill
Sir: John Bercow deserves praise for urging the Conservatives to set a timetable to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on aid to the developing world. It was under Edward Heath's government in 1970 that Britain agreed in the UN General Assembly to establish this target. Economists say that each further $I billion a year in UK aid can lift 400,000 people out of poverty. But Michael Howard should also pledge that if it is returned to power, his party would not attach conditions to aid, such as privatisation and trade liberalisation, which undermine its effectiveness. For example, the poor have gained little from the World Bank's demand that in return for aid Tanzania had to privatise the water system in Dar es Salaam. Almost all of the investment will go to the areas where the richest fifth of the population live.
Rom4 Greenhill
ActionAkl, London N19
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