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26 Mar 2003 : Column 274—continued
Poppy Farming
4. John Mann (Bassetlaw): What plans she has to provide alternative occupations to those involved in the farming of the opium poppy. [104778]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Ms Sally Keeble): My Department is supporting rural development and other programmes in Afghanistan so that Afghans can develop livelihoods that do not depend on poppy growing. We are taking care not to provide perverse incentives by working only in poppy-growing areas.
John Mann : Many of my constituents who are in the armed services are in Afghanistan, and far too many of my constituents are drug addicts because of heroin. Can we see the job through in Afghanistan? Will the Minister
give a commitment to quantify the success in providing alternative employment in Afghanistan over the next year?
Ms Keeble: Yes. Of the £40 million a year that we are providing in support to Afghanistan, probably a third to half of it goes on diversification. Our programmes include a £3 million livelihood programme in Badakhstan, and a £2 million migrant labour scheme in the central highlands to stop some people migrating to the poppy-growing areas. We therefore do a lot of specific practical work, which will be continued in the coming years.
Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury): Ninety per cent. of the heroin coming into the United Kingdom is supplied from Afghanistan. This year, Afghanistan will have a bumper crop of some 4,000 tonnes. What are the Government going to do, because the Minister has failed to stop the production of opium in Afghanistan? What will happen, and what will she and her ministerial colleagues do, when bumper crops come into the UK?
Ms Keeble: The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the problem of the heroin that comes to the UK from Afghanistan. My hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) has done a huge amount to highlight the problem and examine practical solutions, and I think that everyone applauds his work.
The hon. Gentleman knows that we have worked to destroy poppy crops. There will not necessarily be a bumper crop this year but we recognise that there is still the problem of poppies being grown. The Afghan Government are working with the provincial governors to destroy the crops. We are trying to support that with a long-term solution of ensuring that if crops are destroyed, people will be able to find alternative livelihoods.
Ms Keeble: The hon. Gentleman says it is not working, but clearly long-term support will be needed to change the livelihoods of disadvantaged people in rural areas. We are working with the Afghan Government to achieve that goal.
Mr. Jon Owen Jones (Cardiff, Central): Is the Minister aware of any examples of when action on drug-supplying nations has had any effect on the amount of drugs sold and provided in drug-taking nations?
Ms Keeble: Work across government is co-ordinated among all Government Departments. A considerable amount of work is being done in Iran to tackle problems related to supply routes. Although the work in Afghanistan is in its early days, it is extremely important because it is focused on the area from which most of the drugs come.
Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham): Is the Minister aware that pyrethrum—a chrysanthemum—grows in the same conditions as the poppy plant? It is used for the manufacture of organic insecticides and pesticides—I see that the Secretary of State is familiar with it. It is used by companies such as Agropharm,
which is in my constituency. What is the Department doing to encourage farmers to grow pyrethrum instead of poppies?
Ms Keeble: I was not aware of the particular problem raised by the hon. Lady. [Hon. Members: "Solution."] Okay, the solution. I understand that she has received a letter from my right hon. Friend the Secretary the State about the issue. I shall examine and take up the matter again and ensure that we take advantage of the solution.
Mr. Bill Tynan (Hamilton, South): The continuing growth of poppy fields is a major problem. What steps have been taken to provide finance for machinery and education so that we turn to alternative solutions to ensure that living standards in Afghanistan increase?
Ms Keeble: My hon. Friend has pointed to the longer-term solution that we must find. We have invested substantial amounts and we shall continue to do so. We provided £15 million for the Afghan reconstruction trust fund this year. The fund covers a range of issues, including alternative livelihoods and people's educational needs. There are other specific projects, but the solution is to work with the Afghan Government to ensure that their country has a sustainable economy and sustainable social programmes.
Iraq
5. Mr. Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight): If she will make a statement on the proportion of reconstruction costs in Iraq that will be met by the use of Iraqi oil revenues. [104779]
The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short): The Iraqi economy is in very poor shape and most people are dependent on handouts provided through the oil-for-food programme. Some 16 million people are completely dependent on handouts and are not economically active. The programme spends $10 billion each year and is funded by the sale of Iraqi oil. The immediate challenge is to get the oil-for-food programme up and running again. Thereafter, a UN-mandated transitional Government will need to agree an economic reform programme, which will need to address the problems of debt, reparations, building a modern economy and modernising the oil industry.
Mr. Turner : I thank the right hon. Lady for her reply, which I notice did not answer my question. Is she aware that the Foreign Secretary said last Tuesday:
- "we shall propose...that every single cent and penny of those oil revenues"
—[Hon. Members: "Reading."]—of course I am, I am quoting—
"are . . . used for the benefit of the Iraqi people . . . when that happens, the costs of reconstruction to the rest of the world will be remarkably insignificant"—[Official Report, 18 March 2003; Vol. 401, c. 899.]?
-
If the costs will be insignificant, why are we having such trouble agreeing with our European colleagues how much they will contribute?
Mr. Shaun Woodward (St. Helens, South): What progress is being made in the awarding of contracts for reconstruction in Iraq? Given the United States' policy of tying its aid, can the Secretary of State assure us that the awarding of the contracts will be fair and, as the money will come from the oil trust fund, in the long-term interests of the people of Iraq?
Clare Short: I understand public concern about that, but people should not be too worried. So far, USAID has awarded contracts involving aid money to US companies to deal with the immediate humanitarian crises. That is bad practice. The UK is untied and we always fund the most efficient provider, which is usually better for the region. However, such provision of contracts has no implications for the future reconstruction of Iraq. That will require a UN mandate to put an interim Iraqi Government in place, followed by work carried out by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Reform will be transparent and any contracts will be properly awarded.
Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park): Donald Rumsfeld said that American dollars will not be used for the reconstruction of Iraq. If $400 billion is needed for the task, if the USA wants total control of the process and if donors such as France and Germany will not contribute unless there is a new UN resolution, does the right hon. Lady think that the Prime Minister will be successful this time in persuading George Bush to go down the UN route?
Clare Short: The Prime Minister reached an agreement with President Bush in the Azores that there would be a UN mandate for reconstruction, which is also an absolute legal requirement. It is clear from the advice of our Attorney-General on 1441 and previous resolutions that our armed forces are in Iraq as an occupying power with humanitarian responsibilities and duties to keep order and the civil administration running. They do not, however, have the authority to reorganise institutions or establish a new Government. That requires a UN mandate. The UK is clear about that and I am hopeful that, as everything settles down, the international community will unite around that so
that everyone is involved, including the IMF and World Bank, in providing proper help for Iraq to reconstruct itself.
Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge): Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is a need to build international bridges following the Iraq conflict? Does she also agree that getting a UN resolution and using the UN to distribute contracts for post-war reconstruction is the best way to go about that?
Clare Short: I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. As I have said, I think that the way in which we approached the crisis, allowing international division to be so deep, was deeply unfortunate. But we are where we are, and we need to get the world back together, for the sake of Iraq and the middle east, to drive forward the peace process in Palestine, and for the sake of world order in these troubled times. That is a very urgent priority that everyone should attend to. A UN resolution on Iraq could be part of the healing process. First, we need a resolution to keep the oil-for-food programme running, as 16 million Iraqis are dependent on it. Work on that is going on, and much of it is led by Kofi Annan. We are hopeful that there will be a resolution within days. Thereafter, we need agreement on a UN resolution to bring into being a legitimate Iraqi transitional Government—we are working on that too. That is supremely important; I fundamentally agree with my hon. Friend.
Mrs. Caroline Spelman (Meriden): Yesterday, the Secretary of State restated the urgent need for a new UN resolution on the oil-for-food programme. Has her Department any idea how long it will be before the suspension of the programme results in serious food shortages in Iraq? When does she expect a new resolution to be tabled at the United Nations—are we talking about a matter of days or weeks?
Clare Short: We are talking about a matter of days—it is looking more hopeful. It may have to be a two-stage resolution, and I agree with the hon. Lady that it is supremely important. As for needs in the meantime, under the oil-for-food programme, a couple of months' supplies were distributed across the country as the crisis developed, so in the short term food is not the problem—it is water and other supplies. As we know, at Basra, there has been damage to a cable. People cannot live without water—in a very short period they will get diarrhoea and cholera, and that is the danger in Basra. I am happy to say that the International Committee of the Red Cross is now in the power plant working on reconstruction, and it and UNICEF are tanking water to the people of Basra. There is danger in the short term, but I think that we will get that resolution very soon.
Mrs. Spelman: On 18 March, the Secretary of State stated confidently in a letter that
- "the Prime Minister has persuaded President Bush that there must be a new UN resolution creating a UN mandate for the reconstruction of Iraq."
-
However, can she tell the House what success she has had in persuading the leaders of France, Germany and Russia of the need for a new UN resolution on reconstruction?
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