The global spread of covid-19 and reductions in the international aid budget

Motion Text

That this House notes that the covid-19 virus and various mutations are now ravaging a number of poorer countries, attention has been focused on the appalling situation in India and there are concerns that other countries might follow suit; further notes the Government's decision to reduce the international aid budget, citing the impact of the virus in this country on public finances; but believes that people's lives must always come first, that we have an international obligation to help the poorest countries and that it is in our own self-interest to reduce the scale of the pandemic internationally because no-one is safe until we are all safe; and therefore calls on the government to restore the cuts it has previously made to the international aid budget, at least for the duration of the global pandemic, and specifically directs those funds towards providing the medical equipment, oxygen, and other materials as necessary in the worst-affected countries.