Damian Hinds MP: International development is not just about altruism; it's about our national interest

Damian Hinds is MP for East Hampshire and chairs the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility. Follow Damian on Twitter.

In difficult economic times, dedicating 0.7% of GNI to international aid can look hard to justify.

To be sure, however tough things are here, they are clearly far worse in Bangladesh or Sierra Leone.  Although charity may begin at home, it doesn’t end there.  We are also part of a shared humanity, and Britons are very generous towards development charities.

But with so many financial pressures, if governments are to maintain support for public funding, they and NGOs need to get better at demonstrating also that, beyond the purely altruistic, there are strong national interest reasons for investing in international development. As business leaders argue in the FT (yesterday), there is clearly much at stake for Great Britain PLC, as well as the poorest communities in the world.

It starts with showing that development programmes have had, and are having, real impact.  Life expectancy in Africa has risen by a tenth over the past decade and there has been remarkable progress on child mortality; real income per person has increased by more than 30% over the same period; secondary school enrolment grew by 48% between 2000 and 2008; and the average number of children per mother is projected to fall from 5.03 in 2008 to 3.88 by 2020. This last point is crucial, and to some counter-intuitive. But as girls go to school, women are empowered and can access family planning, and as infant mortality rates drop, the number of children per family tends to fall.

Such key development deliverables fulfil four prominent areas of self-interest for the UK and other rich-world nations:

1) Population stabilisation mitigates the growth in demand for world resources such as food and oil.
2) Economic growth, specialisation and trade in developing nations lead to higher Gross World Product and new export markets to trade with.
3) Building self-sufficiency against natural disasters and in defence means fewer emergency calls for aid; and these nations can eventually make a contribution themselves to global security.
4) Better social infrastructure can mean less lawlessness, fewer opportunities for radicalisation and fewer wars to intervene in.

The essence of the development relationship is to assist a weaker nation until it is able to stand alone, at which point it becomes a partner rather than a dependant.   Emerging market and developing economies constituted a much bigger share of world GDP per capita growth in the 2000s than the 1990s.  As the 28 CEOs argue in today’s FT, “Developing countries become emerging economies and emerging economies become the engines of future global growth and prosperity.”

But much development spend has in decades past been wasted, some even counter-productive. DfID’s reforms mean that it is increasingly  well targeted on the things that make the biggest difference, and focused on the poorest people. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to ask vital questions about where money goes, how and on what.

A strong policy environment in the recipient nation is key to ensuring that donated money is spent effectively; there must be the roots of an infrastructure – both physical and in the sense of a legal framework – that can deliver the results, and a will on the part of the leadership to stamp out corruption and vanity projects and ensure that aid actually reaches those it is intended to assist.  In some countries, general budget support may be appropriate; in others it must be specific and highly policed, or channelled through civil society organisations including charities and churches, who have the capacity and networks to deliver.

With so many poor places in the world, there is nothing wrong with focusing official development assistance on places where there is a particular synergy with the donor nation. Sometimes these things are not as expected – we actually heavily under-index in trade with some Commonwealth countries. Overall we can do more to create mutually beneficial opportunities without tying aid to inefficient trade restrictions, and this is something the government obviously appreciates.

It is right for Great Britain to take a leadership role in development, but all rich nations must shoulder their share. They all stand to benefit in the long run, and the 0.7% target is there partly to minimise the ‘free rider’ problem; we must not relent in our pressure on others to fulfil their obligations.  Every pound that we spend ourselves has to be used to its full potential so that we can maximise our global opportunities and secure a safer, more prosperous future from the help we give across the world.

Damian Hinds MP and Andrea Leadsom MP: New Tory thinking on social reform

Andrea and Damian outline some of the ideas starting to emerge from the 2020 Conservatives’ Opportunity Society project.

Andrea Leadsom is the Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire. Follow Andrea on Twitter.

Damian Hinds is Member of Parliament for East Hampshire.  Follow Damian on Twitter.

The arrival of David Cameron as party leader marked a new optimistic, compassionate Conservatism.  The election of 2010 gave the party half a chance to show what that means.  Only half a chance – because of the overwhelming priority of the fiscal emergency and the realities of coalition.

The social – as well as the economic – challenges for the next generation are huge and coming closer to 2015 the party needs to present its distinctively Conservative policies for dealing with these issues.  Conservatives need to paint a picture of the sort of society we want to see and believe can, in time, be achieved.

There are five big challenges.

As Conservatives we believe strong families are the fundamental building block of society.  Support for families should be explicitly at the heart of any Conservative programme.

We need to be ambitious for everyone.  We must widen opportunity, boosting social mobility, even in the face of new pressures from international competition and the ‘hollowing out’ of the labour market.  The ‘global race’ that the Prime Minister speaks of is the context of all policy: we owe it to the next generation to equip them to compete against the new economic superpowers – even as those countries continue to raise the bar.

Damian Hinds MP: Capping payday loans is less than half the battle

Damian Hinds is Member of Parliament for East Hampshire and chairs the all-party parliamentary group on credit unions.  Damian welcomes government support to modernise credit unions – to extend affordable, responsible credit and promote a savings culture. Follow Damian on Twitter.

In his recent ToryDiary article, Peter Hoskin welcomes the prospect of the Financial Conduct Authority being able to cap the interest on payday loans when it takes over consumer credit regulation in 2014.

As Peter notes, taking out a payday loan can be rational (cheaper than direct debit payments bouncing), but there are real concerns about the rate of growth of the industry.  And with online lenders, there is a particular worry about the ease and speed of getting such credit.  ‘Rolling over’ the loan to the next month can soon become a very expensive habit.

As Conservatives, of course, we believe in competition and personal responsibility – but in this market, the normal rules of supply, demand and consumer rationality often don’t seem to apply, and you are sometimes dealing with vulnerable people.  Britain is unusual in not already having some sort of usury ceiling.

So, I agree with Peter Hoskin in welcoming the facility to cap the worst excesses of the payday market. 

Damian Hinds MP: Credit unions are a real alternative to the door-step lenders

Damian Hinds is Member of Parliament for East Hampshire and chairs the all-party parliamentary group on credit unions.  Damian welcomes government support to modernise credit unions – to extend affordable, responsible credit and promote a savings culture. Follow Damian on Twitter.

We may have record low interest rates but not for everyone.  In the sub-prime, high cost credit market, APR percentages generally stretch to three digits, and sometimes four.

This is bigger business than you might think.  The leader in home credit claims to be making its weekly calls on 1 in 20 UK households.  Payday lending now totals around £2bn a year. 

With big revenues come big budgets: witness the network of over 10,000 home credit agents, and the omnipresence of loan ads (and debt ‘solutions’) on daytime TV – generally stressing how much you want rather than what you can afford.

Though saving up is generally a better idea than borrowing, credit is also a fact of modern life that helps smooth over the financial bumps – childbirth, Christmas, back-to-school.  But mainstream credit is unavailable to many, and the sky-high interest rates so many end up paying mean wages or benefits go less far, and relationships come under strain.  Once in the debt trap, it can be very hard to get out – bad news for social mobility and tackling poverty.

Damian Hinds MP: The seven key truths about social mobility

Damian Hinds is MP for East Hampshire and chairs the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility. Follow Damian on Twitter.

Social mobility – the extent to which where you end up in life is about your talents and efforts rather than your background – is relatively low in Britain, and has been for quite a long time.  

Today the all-party group on social mobility launches its first report, Seven Key Truths about Social Mobility which examines the main components of the social mobility challenge.

The Seven Key Truths are:

1. The point of greatest leverage for social mobility is what happens between ages 0 and 3, primarily in the home 
2. You can also break the cycle through education…
3. . …the most important controllable factor being the quality of your teaching
4. But it’s also about what happens after the school bell rings
5. University is the top determinant of later opportunities – so pre-18 attainment is key
6. But later pathways to mobility are possible, given the will and support
7. Personal resilience and emotional wellbeing are the missing link in the chain

In a number of these areas, there is already a very strong story to tell on the Coalition’s record, with more to come.  Opportunity for all is a core Conservative value and I am pleased and proud that this government is grasping the social mobility challenge with ambitious reforms.

Damian Hinds MP and Charlotte Leslie MP: Why Gove’s EBacc can help narrow the gap

Damian Hinds is the Conservative MP for East Hampshire and Charlotte Leslie is the Conservative MP for Bristol North West.

Today the Education Select Committee publishes its report on the introduction of the E-Bacc. Michael Gove’s English Baccalaureate, or ‘E-Bacc’, consists of GCSEs in English, Maths, Science, a language and History or Geography.  Looking at who has been passing these subjects not only demonstrates the decline in some academic subjects; it also lays bare a concerning gulf between rich and poor. We know that of the 80,000 children on free school meals, fewer make it to Oxbridge than from each of six independent schools. Looking at children’s school attainment through the lens of the E-Bacc makes one of the reasons for this a little clearer: Poorer children are just not being steered towards the subjects that top universities require.

In 2010, fewer than one in six pupils achieved passes at C or above in the complete set of E-Bacc subjects.  And among the poorest – those on free school meals – it was one in 25. 

Damian Hinds: Forget ID cards - it's the National Identity Register we have to worry about

Damian Hinds is prospective parliamentary candidate for East Hampshire.

Credit where it’s due.  The Labour spin machine has scored a rare double hit.  With the first they persuade the media they’ve had a change of heart on compulsory National Identity Cards, thereby neutralising an awkward issue.  With the second, they quietly speed up the introduction of the National Identity Register, thereby furthering the real underlying aim. 

As the Guardian reports, over 80% of people will find their way onto the National Identity Register as a result of applying for or renewing a passport (and will thereafter have a duty to notify the Register of changes in personal details or face a fine of up to £1,000).  Additionally, young people turning 18 are likely to find increasingly that a ‘voluntary’ ID Card is pretty much compulsory if they ever want to buy a drink, so they’ll get on the Register too.  At some point in the future when, say, 90% of people are on the Register, a government could easily decide that they now “might as well”, in the interests of efficiency, make the thing universal and compulsory.

The key debate is not, and never has been, about a plastic card.  It is about the National Identity Register (NIR) that sits behind the card.  The NIR is the daddy of all databases, which will allow (via everyone’s unique Identity Registration Number – in database parlance, the ‘index key’) the linking together of data held on us across the other 40+ public sector databases, existing, under construction, or planned.