TRADE JUSTICE MOVEMENT

Early day motion 1421, tabled 16 June 2003 by Caroline Spelman (Conservative). Signed by 127 members.

That this House shares the concern of the Trade Justice Movement about the plight of the poorest people in the world, and congratulates them on bringing them to the attention of the public; notes with concern the fact that a billion live on less than a dollar a day, that life expectancy in many African countries is declining, and that 30 million people in Africa have HIV/AIDS; believes that rising levels of international trade and trade liberalisation offer the best hope of alleviating poverty in the developing world; calls for quality legal and economic advice for developing countries on trade issues; believes that the Government has failed to do enough to promote trade liberalisation, reform agricultural subsidies and phase out European trade barriers; and further calls on the Government to use the World Trade Organisation meeting at Cancun to do more to reform the international trade rules to give poor countries a fair deal on international trade.

Signatures by party: Conservative 93, Liberal Democrat 13, Labour 10, DUP 2, Labour/Co-operative 2, Scottish National Party 2, UUP 2, Independent Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.