Reed Elected To All Party International Development Post

Loughborough MP Andy Reed was delighted after being elected to the position Secretary of a key All Party Group concerned with international development issues this week.

The new group will be called the All Party Debt, Aid & Trade Group – it was formerly known as the Jubilee 2000 Parliamentary Group and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Group, of which Reed was Secretary of both.

Reed said:

“I am delighted to be elected to this important post. There is no bigger issue than world poverty for Parliament and I know many people in Loughborough share that view. We are at a key moment with the Make Poverty History Campaign, and the UK has a pivotal role as Chair of the G8 nations and the Presidency of the EU this year – we all must play our part.

“We are an active group trying to encourage effective debt relief not just from the British Government but from other countries too – we have seen this week what a difference can be made when we try, but we must not rest on our laurels. One of the things we must continue to monitor is the effectiveness of support that is being given to all the poorest countries, no matter where they are in the world.

“Anything we can do which helps to give the people in these countries a better quality of life and a better chance of survival is obviously an achievement in itself, and we will be working hard to see that the poorest countries problems are not forgotten here.”