News story

4th January 2005

Local MP Calls on Government to Go Further on Debt Relief for Disaster-Struck Countries

Local MP Steve Webb has called on the Government to go further with its plans for debt relief for the Asian countries devastated by the recent tidal wave.  It is reported that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is talking to other countries about a freeze on debt repayments to the West from the afflicted countries, but Northavon MP Steve Webb is calling on him to go further and seek urgent international agreement to cancel debts.

Steve Webb said:

"It would clearly be wrong for the nations who have been so terribly affected by the recent tidal wave to have to spend money on repaying debts to the West instead of rebuilding their shattered nations. But those nations need to know that the burden is lifted permanently. The process of rebuilding will take many years, so temporary relief will not be good enough. The British people have shown through their generosity how much they want to help the people of South East Asia, and the Government should now take a lead internationally in securing a lasting write-off for these debts".

The MP also called on the Government to ensure that Britain made a worthwhile financial contribution to the international aid effort. He said that the initial offer of 15 million pounds by the UK government was "woefully inadequate" and said that the Government had been "shamed into doing more" by the overwhelming generosity of the British public. In a letter to the Chancellor, Steve Webb said that the scale of the catastrophe was such that "the British people would expect a generous response from the Government to match their own generosity".