On Thursday 26th November, Myles Wickstead, interviewed Layla Moran MP,  Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development on how the Liberal Democrat party can continue to champion International Development in Parliament, ensuring that the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office maintains a focus on global education.

Opening remarks

Ryan Henson, CEO of Coalition for Global Prosperity, gave an overview of the Coalition’s work, saying a smart aid budget really can and does transform lives across the world. Not only is it morally right to spend aid, he said, it was in the UK’s national interest. 

Myles Wickstead began by asking Layla Moran whether she enjoyed being in politics. 

Moran said politics had been very eventful since she was elected, but said she grew up in a family very rooted in development. She thanked the Coalition for Global Prosperity for reaching out across Parliament. 

She said she felt confident that there would inevitably be a growing movement defending aid after the Chancellor’s decision to reduce it next year but said she did not think the Government would lose a vote on the legislation. 

The most compelling argument for those cynical against aid, she said, was the argument that development spending helped stem the flow of forced migration. 

On the SDGs, Moran said they were a miracle in terms of how they were created. She said it was a recognition of interconnectivity. She went on to add that there was a feeling within the Conservative party that cutting aid was the wrong thing to do, stating she thought the legislation was in “for a bumpy ride.” 

“ There will inevitably be a growing movement defending aid after the Chancellor’s decision to reduce it next year”

-Layla Moran MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development

On Education and Nutrition

On the issue of fragile states, Layla said her mother was Palestinian and always said that Palestinians were the best educated in the world. Moran said she was a science teacher by trade and stressed the positive impact education had on the individual and communities.

“There are so many good reasons why education should be a priority”, she said. The cut to aid was therefore very dismaying, Moran said, even if the Government had recommitted to girl’s education. 

However, education funding for everyone needed to be ring fenced and that continuing education in any kind of conflict zone was very important. 

You could change entire countries by changing their access to curriculum, Moran stressed. The UK exporting its education system was a good example of soft power, she said. 

Moran said there was a link between nutrition and education, which was very live in the UK with free school meals. 

She said she worked with Concern Worldwide and it was very stark that the UN were warning of famines of biblical proportions during the pandemic. With coronavirus, plus the cuts to aid, you could see funding for basic needs removed completely. 

She stressed coordination on this issue was vital. 

“There are so many good reasons why education should be a priority”

On Soft power and Integrated Review

Layla Moran said the work of the British Council was massively undervalued as a soft power too as it helped the UK to invest in other countries and that MPs were still grappling with the process, but she was speaking to those who helped push the 2015 Bill through. 

On legislative process for aid reduction bill

Moran said the question was around whether secondary legislation could be used or whether primary legislation could be used, and they were still trying to figure this out but would continue reaching out across party lines.