Recently I have been contacted by constituents
concerned about the alleged misuse of UKAID to fund activities carried out by
the Palestinian Authority related to terrorism.
They informed me that “the Institute for Monitoring
Peace and Cultural Tolerance (IMPACT) reported that school books encouraged
Palestinian children ‘to sacrifice their lives in the name of religion’ and
glorified martyrdom and violent resistance … Additionally, the UK government
continues to deny the link between payments to Palestinian terrorists, guilty
of the most heinous crimes and UK aid, including payments to two men who
murdered Kristene Luken and brutally attacked British citizen Kay Wilson”
These are serious allegations and warrant a full
response from the Government and time for Parliament scrutiny.
My constituents may know
that I am vocal supporter of UKAID. I am proud of our commitment to spend 0.7% of our budget in
international aid, which is helping to build a safer, healthier, more
prosperous world for people in developing countries and in the UK.
However, any misuse of the
aid budget undermines trust in taxpayers’ trust in the government ability to
deliver on our international humanitarian commitments.
I have already written to
the Secretary of State for International Development to draw her attention to
this matter and will be informing my constituents of her reply in due course.
I will also do my best to
be in the chamber for Louise Ellman MP’s Ten Minute Rule Bill on this matter on
Tuesday 8 January 2019, subject to other parliamentary commitments I have on
the day.
I would like to thank
my constituents for drawing my attention to this important matter
