Post-Brexit Britain has ‘tremendous opportunity’ to lead in international development – Priti Patel
International Development Secretary Priti Patel was joined by Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson and others to discuss the priorities for helping vulnerable children at a Save the Children conference fringe event.
Reading news stories about Conservative conference, one would be lead to believe Brexit was just about the only thing mentioned. The vote on the 23rd June dominated headlines as politicians attempted to explain the plan for the future.
"The media's dissection of this conference is almost entirely about Brexit but there has actually been so much more going on,” said the Scottish Conservative leader at a Save the Children fringe meeting.
Chief Executive of Save the Children Kevin Watkins argued post-Brexit Britain has been stereotyped as xenophobic - more inward looking with no appetite to focus on development or foreign aid – but argued the ram-packed fringe proved this to be a fallacy.
“This conference has confirmed that we will be an outward looking country.”
Editor of Conservative Home Paul Goodman said: “Just because Brexit has happened, doesn’t mean Britain and Tories have to look inward…we are all looking outward and I think that is exemplified by the Secretary of State.”
International Development Secretary Priti Patel said that Britain has a “tremendous opportunity” going forward post the referendum to lean outwards, to show where we are leaders and also lead other countries where they are not doing enough, and scale up and step up where other countries to do more.
“We are a global government and our vision is very much about our place in the world. When we think about Britain post-Brexit, we think about global Britain – when it comes to the world stage about politics and how we lean in the world, but also the way we leverage soft power, aid is one of those very fundamental routes in which soft power is illustrated through countries and regions, but also through the discussions I am now having with my counterparts on some tricky and challenging issues.”
Mr Goodman praised Ms Patel’s dedication to the aid budget and her keynote speech earlier in the day.
“One line in Priti’s speech stood out for me: politics isn’t just about economics, there is a moral dimension. And don’t let anyone tell you that is not the view of Conservative activists.
“As a party we can all be proud of our support for international aid and one of the reasons ConHome does this event is we want to keep the flag flying and faith going.”
Watkins praised Ms Patel for putting children at the centre of our aid budget saying: “There is nothing like cutting through complexity by looking at a problem through the eyes of a child.”
He had three key things which he said his charity is focusing on: education for children, survival for children and protection for children.
“Children’s rights are violated absolutely and with impunity in some parts of the world; we saw appalling images from Aleppo. We need to restore the credibility of the force of law.”
Ms Patel backed Mr Watkins’ call for more protection and said it is “a crime and a scandal” that in 2016 we have still not progressed enough when it comes to child exploitation.
“There is so much more that we need to do – especially in child labour. We need to call out those supply chains on an international level.”
Mr Watkins condemned the fact that over half of refugee children don’t have an opportunity to go to school. He said Save the Children believe that it’s possible to achieve universal primary education for refugees “but we are a long way from that at the moment.”
UK foreign aid is making a difference in this area, said Ms Patel, commenting:
“The theme of education is an area where we as the UK can be proud of the leadership we have taken – we are the country which is leading the way not just inside Syria but inside the region for those children who have had their schools bombed. We need to keep them in school so they have a future, and if they’re not in school, awful things happen to them. Our aid is making a difference to those children.”
Ms Davidson echoed the other speakers on the importance of education, especially in the early years of life.
She said: “If people start behind, they will stay behind and that has a huge impact on life chances. It is not fair and it not right that by the time a child goes to school at four years old, a poor child will be 18 months behind them in vocabulary. It is unacceptable.”
Ms Davidson praised the Girls Education Challenge, which, she said, since its launch has helped over 1.1m disadvantaged girls to go to school, trained 65,000 teachers, constructed or renovated classrooms and it has distributed seven million textbooks.
“This is a project which has helped to improve and transform lives. It is a shining example of Britain’s leadership on international development.
“Because of the work of Save the Children and Priti’s department, this world is a little bit better than it otherwise would’ve been.”
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