Under Labour, legislation had required that all aid spending be for the reduction of poverty. This danger is increased by the abolition of the Department for International Development this week, its functions merged into the Foreign Office. In 1974 Labour again made it an independent ministry, and in 1979 Thatcher put it again under the Foreign Office. When I took over the international development portfolio in opposition, Blair asked me to review this commitment. • Clare Short is a former secretary of state for international development and was a Labour MP until 2010

Source: The Guardian September 03, 2020 12:56 UTC