The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the greatest crises to face any Government in living memory – but it cannot be fought on the home front alone.
Hopefully it will be crisis averted, and we’ll have a bit more time to fix the hole. But sooner or later, difficult choices on tax and spending are coming.
Let’s use ever-increasing intelligence – and stop the flow of dirty money out of poor countries.
I was delighted to see your appointment. I confess to slight bias, given that you retweeted an article of mine calling for an end to ring-fencing of the aid budget.
We need to have a Foreign Affairs Committee that mixes idealism with clear thinking – and holds the Foreign Office to account.
Africa is home to 16 per cent of the world’s population, and this is set to double by 2050. Its GDP is expected to reach $3.2 trillion in the next five years.
The International Development Secretary won’t be drawn on the Prime Minister’s previous comments on his budget or his Department.
DFID managed its portfolio with far greater efficiency than the Foreign Office. But it should improve how it aligns traditional aid objectives with Britain’s goals.
For the first time in decades the levers of British influence – defence, diplomacy, aid and trade – could sit alongside domestic efforts in education and infrastructure.
The scale of his domestic ambitions and the legacy of the Iraq War suggest that his ambitions will be limited – for the moment at least.
A separate department was right for the stable, hopeful 1990s. But the years have presented various challenges for which it is less well-suited.
Don’t expect Downing Street to bother too much about what MPs or the media think as it prepares to shake up government and Whitehall.
We should measure the success of our aid programmes by the good we achieve, not simply by the amount of money we spend.
The new Chancellor should stick to the basics of cutting taxes, spending more on education and rebalancing growth outside of London.
Those that prevent ordinary Syrians from accessing humanitarian aid and economic opportunities should be ended.