The Department for International Development holds a special place in the heart of the Labour party. After all, we set it up, we made it a world leader, and we brought about real change – not least through the 2005 Gleneagles Agreement to drop the debt and take steps to make poverty history.
We are rightly proud of that record. But progressive politics is about constantly fighting to change things for the better. I did not get in to politics to protect Labour achievements – and there is never a belated sense of gratitude from a public much more interested in what you are going to do rather than what you have done. I believe in a politics that builds on achievements, to go further.
When we think of poverty, no access to education, no healthcare, modern-day slavery, discrimination, conflict and corruption we know that these inequalities are wrong, but they are more consequence than cause. They are symptoms of the real driving force of inequity – a fundamental imbalance of power. So today I set out a fresh vision for development under Labour. A DFID of renewed drive and purpose, with power at its heart.
It is often said that there is no shortage of food in the world, only that it is unevenly distributed. The same is true of power. There is no shortage. It is just that there is too much in too few people’s hands. I want DFID to address those imbalances of economic, social and political power as its defining mission.
So Labour would help fight the imbalance of economic power by offering more support for poorer states to develop their tax systems. We would help take on the massive deficit of social power that keeps millions of the world’s poor from education and healthcare by backing innovative schemes to open access to all and we would help battle the imbalance of political power by putting human rights at the centre of development.
Authoritarian and ‘rights-free development’ can leave poor and vulnerable people worse off, forced from their land, exploited, and exposed to poisoning and pollution. ‘Rights-respecting development’ can help prevent abuses associated with economic development.
If development is going to be just, inclusive and sustainable, it needs to be underpinned by human rights. So Labour is looking at new tough rules for the granting of UK aid.
Under these plans governments in receipt of direct UK aid would face an annual audit. As well as firm rules on transparency and corruption we would monitor respect for human rights. A new unit at the heart of DFID would assess states against internationally agreed standards. Governments that fail to meet those standards – that break international law or breach the UN Charter or globally agreed covenants, for example – and show no sign of progression would face consequences, and in extreme cases we would, of course, reserve the right to act immediately. Labour is developing a system of graduated withdrawal through which transgressors would see direct support reduced and eventually suspended if respect for human rights is not reinstalled.
Of course, there may be some sensitivities about this approach but at the outset I am clear that we will not act in a way that hurts those that need our help. We would ensure that poor people do not pay twice the price for bad governance by looking to keep the support in the country but out of governments hands, through working with multilateral agencies and NGOs so those in need do not lose out.
Now I know these policies do not contain all the answers. And I cannot pretend that these measures will change the world overnight. But they point to a determination to do some things differently.
Development has the power to change and save lives – this could be the generation that eliminates aid dependency for good, lifts a billion out of poverty and prevent half a million a year from dying on their first day.
But it is much more than that. Not just big numbers but big change. Empowering the powerless. That is what we can do. That is what DFID is for. And if Labour has the opportunity to govern, that is what I want to ensure DFID delivers.
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Jim Murphy MP is shadow secretary of state for international development. He tweets @JimMurphyMP
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