Oral Answers to Questions

Diane Abbott Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Swayne]

My hon. Friend is quite right. This is the greatest humanitarian response that we have made to any emergency ever.

[Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Lab)]

There are terrible reports of the conditions in the Syrian refugee camps on Greek islands such as Lesbos, with no dry clothes, no shelter, no food, and children sleeping in bin bags, and conditions can only get worse as winter approaches. Are the Government really prepared to turn their back on people like these?

[Mr Swayne]

We have already done work, and are doing work, with the UNHCR and the Red Cross.

--- Later in debate ---

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that we work in various countries, through the returns and reintegration fund. I mentioned Jamaica. There are also examples in Ghana, which I will shortly visit, and Nigeria, where I have just been.

[Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Lab)]

Where does building prisons fit into the UK’s stated spending priorities for foreign aid? Does the Minister understand concerns about aid money perhaps increasingly being siphoned off for other purposes?

[Grant Shapps]

As the hon. Lady knows, we have a strict regime for where money is spent and how it fits into official development assistance expenditure. In the end, this is about security both in those countries and at home.