Britain 'has a duty' to end poverty

from E Politix

Labour must focus on ending poverty and eradicating diseases around the world, the international development secretary has told the party's annual conference today.

Douglas Alexander said on Tuesday that the global challenges of the 21st Century "demand an international response".

Praising former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, he told delegates that "a politics of collective endeavour" remained "at the heart" of his party's policies.

"We cannot escape each others' problems in today's interdependent world," he said. "And we can no longer pretend that commerce can be globalised but justice need not.

"Whether it is conflict, the spread of disease or the impact of climate change the distinction between foreign and domestic doesn't make sense any more.

"There's no over there and over here anymore. Because there will be no security or prosperity over here, if there is insecurity and poverty over there."

Alexander announced a £1bn global fund to help tackle diseases including Aids, TB and malaria. And he spoke of Britain's "moral duty to act in a world which today remains unequal, unsafe, and unsustainable".

Labour politics was defined by the need "to find shared solutions to problems we share", the cabinet minister argued.

He added: "Over the last ten years together we have shown we have the strength to change our country.

"The challenge now is to prove we have the strength to eradicate disease, end poverty, and to change our world.

"That is our obligation. Our duty. And together - our destiny."