UK House of Commons big guns back debt bill

 Jubilee 2000 Coalition

 

 

Jubilee 2000 Bill receives widespread political support

The UK Jubilee 2000 Coalition made a big leap forward when legislation in support of Jubilee 2000 was introduced in Parliament for the first time on 21st July 1998.

The draft Private Member’s Bill, sponsored by Bill Cash MP, was introduced under a 10-minute rule. The bill does not currently have the chance of becoming legislation. However it received high level backing, winning the support of chairmen of five key select committees in the House of Commons. These included Giles Radice, chairman of the Treasury Committee, and Bowen Wells, chairman of the International Development Committee, as well as the chairs of the Foreign Affairs, Trade & Industry and Agriculture committees. This increases pressure on the Government to support similar legislation in a future session of Parliament.

The bill follows 2 months after the 70,000-strong ‘human chain’ around the G8 summit of world leaders in Birmingham last May. Ann Pettifor, director of Jubilee 2000 Coalition, said: "The Prime Minister told 70,000 people in Birmingham that he wanted to go further in cancelling debt. This is his opportunity to turn those words into action. We are calling on the Government to declare its support for this bill."

The draft Remission of Third World Debt (Jubilee 2000) Bill requires the government to:

Bill Cash MP, chair of the All-Party Group for the Jubilee 2000 Coalition, which with more than 100 members is one of the largest groups in Parliament, said: "Cancelling the unpayable debts of the poorest countries in the world is not just the right moral choice – it makes sound economic sense too. The debt relief that Germany received after the Second World War contributed to half a century of stability and prosperity in Europe. That is what Africa needs now."

Julian Filochowski, director of the aid agency Cafod, one of the leading members of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition, said: "We are delighted to see such broad cross-party support for this bill. Ordinary people in developing countries bear the cost of debt every day, through the lack of basic health care, clean water and primary education. Cancelling that debt would give us all something to celebrate in the new millennium."

Pressure from Ealing Campaigners wins backing of local MPs

MPs from all political parties turned up to welcome the bill. Amongst them were Ealing MPs Piara Khabra, Clive Soley and Stephen Pound. After strong local pressure which included receiving over 100 faxes in less than a week, they agreed to meet campaigners at the House of Commons. They listened to the campaigners’ concerns and attended the debate on Jubilee 2000.

Local Organiser Sheenagh Burrell said: "With just over 500 days to go to the Millennium, we met our MPs to ask them to call on the Government to grasp this opportunity to give millions of people in the world’s poorest countries the chance of a new start in the new millennium.

Ann Pettifor, Director of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition said: "I’m delighted that the Ealing MPs have shown their support for the Jubilee 2000 Campaign – It shows that local people can bring important issues such as debt relief to the attention of decision makers."

Remission of Third World Debt (Jubilee 2000) Bill

A draft bill to:

Require the United Kingdom government to cancel the unpayable debts owed to it by the world’s poorest countries by the end of the year 2000;

to work to persuade other lending nations and institutions to do the same;

to seek to ensure that resources from debt cancellation are deployed to benefit those most affected by poverty;

to make guarantees by the Export Credits Guarantee Department and lending by the Department for International Development more transparent;

to call for greater transparency in lending by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank;

to work to ensure a stronger debtor voice in negotiations between debtor countries and their creditors;

and to seek international agreement for new discipline in and controls over lending and borrowing between developing countries and the international financial institutions, lending governments and private financial institutions.


WHEREAS for every one pound received in grants in 1996, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa paid out one pound and thirty-one pence in debt repayments; and
Whereas the world’s poorest countries currently spend more on debt servicing than on health and education combined; and
Whereas the responsibility for the build-up of high levels of debt is held jointly by debtors and creditors; and
Whereas two million people in forty-five countries have signed the Jubilee 2000 petition calling for the one-off cancellation of the unpayable debts of the world’s most impoverished countries by the year 2000.

Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

1. – (1) The United Kingdom government shall, not
later than 31 December 2000, cancel the unpayable debts owed to it by the world’s most impoverished states.

(2) The Secretary of State shall establish a process for monitoring the use of any new resources made available by the cancellation of debts for each state to which 1(1) above applies, seeking by all reasonably practicable means to ensure that such resources are deployed, through transparent and democratic processes, to benefit those most affected by poverty, resulting from poor health and education and a lack of clean water.

(3) The Secretary of State shall take into account the results of monitoring under 1(2) above in making future decisions about aid and lending to each relevant state.

(4) In this Act, “the world’s most impoverished states” shall be construed to include all states defined by the World Bank as Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries; and also any others where GDP at purchasing power parity, as defined by the United Nations Development Programme, is below US$2000 per capita; and also any others which the Secretary of State, taking account of 1(5) below, requires to be included.

(5). In this Act, “unpayable debts” shall be construed to include all external debts which cannot, in the reasonable judgement of the Secretary of State, be serviced without diverting public spending from programmes necessary to meet targets for the reduction of poverty agreed by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and any debts that would be deemed odious in international law.

2. – (1) The United Kingdom government shall in meetings of the Paris Club group of creditors and at every other appropriate opportunity use all reasonable endeavours to persuade other lending states to take action in respect of debts owed to them by the world’s most impoverished states of a similar kind to that applicable under this Act to the United Kingdom government.

(2) The United Kingdom government shall, via its representatives on the Governing and Executive Boards of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and otherwise, use all reasonable endeavours to persuade those institutions and other multilateral lending institutions to take similar action in respect of debts owed to them by the world’s most impoverished states.

3. – (1) The Secretary of State shall present a quarterly
report to Parliament detailing the total value and recipient of each loan made by the Department for International Development and of each guarantee made by the Export Credits Guarantee Department in the previous quarter, showing in each case the intended use for the loan or guaranteed sum and the terms attached to the repayment of the loan or the drawing down of the guarantee.

(2) The Secretary of State shall, not later than 31 December 1998, present a report to Parliament setting out the information in section 3(1) above for all outstanding loans made by the Department for International Development and guarantees made by the Export Credits Guarantee Department; and shall in this report also show the amount of debt for each country that is principal, interest and in arrears; and shall update this information in a report to Parliament annually thereafter.

(3) If in any particular case the Secretary of State considers that to disclose information as to the identity of the recipient of a guarantee by the Export Credits Guarantee Department would be contrary to the overriding national interest, he may exclude such identification from the reports required under 3(1) and 3(2) above.

(4) The government shall via its representatives on the Governing and Executive Boards of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund use all reasonable endeavours to persuade those institutions and other multilateral lending institutions to publish similar reports to those required in 3(1) and 3(2) in respect of loans made by those institutions.

4. The Secretary of State shall publish, not more than six months after the enactment of this Act, a report to Parliament setting out proposals to ensure a more equal status between debtor states and creditors in negotiations over debt repayment; and to seek international agreement for new, independent and transparent controls and discipline over lending and borrowing between developing countries and the international financial institutions, lending governments and private financial institutions.

5. This Act may be cited as the Remission of Third World Debt (Jubilee 2000) Act 1998.

Sponsors of the Remission of Third World Debt (Jubilee 2000) Bill:

Bill Cash (Con, chair, All-Party Group on Jubilee 2000 Coalition), Giles Radice MP (Lab, chair, Treasury Select Committee), Bowen Wells (Con, chair, International Development Select Committee), Donald Anderson (Lab, chair, Foreign Affairs Select Committee),Martin O’Neill (Lab, chair, Trade & Industry Select Committee), Peter Luff (Con, chair, Agriculture Select Committee), Simon Hughes (Lib Dem), Barry Sheerman (Lab), Margaret Ewing (SNP), Nigel Jones (Lib Dem), Steve Webb (Lib Dem), Frank Cook MP (Lab).


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