CAMERON GETS IT WRONG OVER MAKE POVERTY HISTORY: MULHOLLAND
December 14, 2005 12:00 AM
Liberal Democrat Junior International Development spokesman and MP for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland, has slammed David Cameron's comments today in Prime Minister's Questions suggesting that there is a general agreement that free trade is the best way to tackle poverty in developing countries.
Commenting, Greg said:
"It's certainly true that the EU and the US need to abolish the huge subsidies to their producers, which cause such distortion in world markets making it impossible for producers in developing countries to compete on a level playing field.
"However, it's simply not true that there is a consensus that free trade is the answer to the world's problem. The thousands of Make Poverty History campaigners and NGOs like Oxfam, Cafod and Save the Children are all calling for trade justice to give poorer countries the right to implement trade policies that are pro poor and pro development.
"Whilst getting rid of the grotesque CAP subsidies to farmers would reduce dumping things like milk and sugar to Africa and the Caribbean, which forces local farmers out of business, there also is the need for trade rules to allow the poorest countries to protect things like basic farming to ensure these people can make a living and send their kids to school. Unfettered free trade can mean that it is not economical for a family to keep a cow and sell the milk to other people in the town, and they end up buying foreign milk instead, which is just crazy.
"So what we need is not just freer trade but fairer trade, as well as other measures. The response of the G8 and WTO has been at best limited - so we also need more action from the developed world on debt cancellation and more and better aid.
"So David Cameron got it wrong - those of us who care about International Development want to see not unfettered free trade but trade justice as well as debt cancellation and better, unconditional aid."
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