Emily Darlington

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Dr Huq. I do not have much time to wind up, so I will not respond to each and every intervention, but let me say a huge thank you to Members. I am so pleased to hear that we continue to have a cross-party alliance and support for our work on the Global Fund and Gavi. The reason for that support, as we have heard, is that this is about our health, global health, and our growth in this country. We are world leaders. Given that the Prime Minister has said that, in the light of the cuts, we will work to increase the ODA budget as soon as possible, I do not want us to make decisions today that put at risk not only our global leadership, but the lives of millions of people. That is something echoed by the 150 scientists who signed a letter published this week, by UK companies that support the jobs in the UK on this, and by the various interventions that we have had, including by the Minister and the ambassador from Botswana, who I have also had the pleasure to meet. This is an opportunity for us to decide: are we going to continue to be a UK that looks out, understands that we live in a global world and puts biosecurity, the health of our population and the health of the world at the heart of our strategy? Or are we going to step back from that global leadership? I hope that we will be at the forefront of this debate and show leadership, ensuring not only that our contribution stays the same, but that each and every other country’s does, as well as those of other donors. I thank the Minister for responding today; I know how much he agrees with many of the comments made, and I look forward to us continuing to work together. Question put and agreed to.  Resolved, That this House has considered funding for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund.