UK party conference season
Over the last 3 weeks Britain’s political parties have held their first party conferences since May’s general election.
For ONE these events provided a chance to meet party activists and the many newly elected politicians. Together with the Institute of Development Studies and the Foreign Policy Centre we took part in well-attended debates on aid, trade and the role that business can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. And it was encouraging to see that political support for the fight against extreme poverty remains high across the political spectrum, even in the current economic climate.
UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, visits the Mum’s Cafe with Nicola Blackwood, Vice Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.
Supporting our “Baby Protest – No child born with HIV by 2015″ campaign we were part of the White Ribbon Alliance’s “Mum Cafe”, which showcased the progress that’s being made on maternal and child health, as well as what’s still needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The event proved very popular with activists and senior politicians, and not just because of the tea and biscuits.
The conferences, however, were understandably dominated by talk of the forthcoming spending cuts due to be announced on 20th October (and Ed Miliband’s election as the Labour Party’s new leader).
Now more than ever we need to make the case for why international development matters – to politicians but also to everyone who votes for them, people like us. Party conferences are one way to do this but the work continues in constituencies, capitals and across the country…
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
