Sir Nicholas Soames’s Question to the Foreign Secretary on Zimbabwe

House of Commons

Wednesday 15 November 2017

Sir Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex) (Con)

I can confirm to the Foreign Secretary that we do indeed have excellent diplomatic and aid staff in Harare.

If this does indeed presage a move towards easier times—and I do, of course, accept the caution issued by the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey)—will the Foreign Secretary acknowledge, along with me, that the British Government have unfinished business in Zimbabwe? Will he assure me that they will offer further assistance, if they can, to help that wonderful country and its remarkable people, both black and white, in their transition to—we hope—a better Government and a more prosperous state?

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)

I thank my right hon. Friend, notably for his recent mission to Zimbabwe. I was very interested to hear of his meetings there. I know that he personally, in a way, incarnates the historic ties between our two countries. He knows whereof he speaks. Zimbabwe has fantastic potential. It is a country with a very well-educated population, and it has a great future if it can secure the right political system. That is all it takes. They have fantastic natural resources, and my right hon. Friend can be absolutely reassured that the UK Government—who, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said just now, contribute about £80 million or £90 million in DFID spending— will be continuing to invest in Zimbabwe and its future.

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Hansard
Volume 631
No 51
Column 3

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