—— no loss of dfid staff. abolishing dfid diminishes britain's play in the world. honourable gentleman does not want a statement in the house, about an important white reform, then i think he has misrepresenting the view of the house also it is important that we make this limit and i'm very proud of what we are doing. anybody had any experience of the matter will now that at the moment, uk overseas does not. . . will now that at the moment, uk overseas does not... we are less than the sum of our parts. if you travel to imported foreign capital is where we need to make points to our friends is where we need to make points to ourfriends and is where we need to make points to our friends and partners, is where we need to make points to ourfriends and partners, you have your key diplomat saying one thing and finding that their message is the message from overseas aid, you cared, from dfid is different. that undermines the coherence, that undermines the coherence, that undermines the coherence of our foreign policy. he will know that. it is absolutely vital that we had

they warned that merging dfid would be andi they warned that merging dfid would be and i quote, turningr backs on the world's poorest people. only last week an interim report from the international development committee said this merger would erode accountability and shift funds from poverty reduction, so let's start with the most basic question first. let's not have the usual bluster, prime minister, answer the question for once. can the prime minister confirmed that he has actually read the interim report on this proposed merger? can you also confirm which aid charities he consulted before making his statement today? mr speaker, dfid employs around 600 people in east kilbride. can the prime minister guarantee that all these jobs are secure and they will stay in east kilbride? and finally, on the 8th ofjune my colleague, the memberfor on the 8th ofjune my colleague, the member for dundee west, wrote to the dfid secretary asking why the department was suspending all dfid projects except for the relative handful of projects that have been identified by the government as a priority. can t

and what is actually happening, of course, is that dfid and the fco are nowjoining together to becomenational affairs, which will be of huge benefit to our ability to project britain's sense of mission about overseas aid. and for too long, frankly, uk overseas aid been treated as some giant cash point in the sky that arrives without any reverence to uk interests or to the values that the uk wishes to express, or the priorities — diplomatic, political, or commercial — of the government of the uk. but other opposition leaders also saw it as a distraction. at a time when we should be standing with the world's poorest, acting as a beacon of hope, the prime minister is playing politics. let me be clear — the government are blatantly using challenging domestic circumstances as an excuse to wind down essential aid for the world's poorest. this is shameful and is not in our name, mr speaker. when the world's poorest are exposed to the worst pandemic for a century, why has the prime minister chosen this moment to step back from britain's leadership in the fight against global poverty? isn't th

and so i have decided to merge dfid with the foreign and commonwealth office to create a new departmentl unite our aid with our diplomacy and bring them together in our international effort. dfid has amassed world—class expertise and all its people can take pride in how they have helped to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the world. to select but a few examples, they have striven to protect millions of children across the world from polio, which is now on the verge of global eradication. they've paved the way for millions of girls to attend school for the first time in countries such as pakistan, as i've seen for myself. they've done their utmost to ease the suffering in syria and in sierra leone they were central to the defeat of an outbreak of the ebola virus. and all of this amounts to the finest demonstration of british values, following in the great tradition of the country that ended the slave trade and resisted totalitarianism. and it's precisely that ambition, vision and expertise that will now be at the heart of a new department, taking forward the w

position in an intensely competitive world by making sensible changes and so, i have decided to merge dfidpartment, a new department — the foreign commonwealth and development office, and this will unite our aid with our diplomacy and bring them together in our international effort. a few hours ago, the 0ns figures showed a fall of 600,000 people on the payroll. the economy contracted by 20% in april. and we could be on the verge of the return of mass unemployment — something we've not seen for a generation. we've also one of the highest death tolls from covid—19 in the world — at least 41,700 deaths, and likely to be far greater than that. mr speaker, this statement is intended to deflect attention from all of that. and can i assure the prime minister it will not work. several conservative mps backed the change. can he confirm that this is a merger, not a takeover, and that actually, this has the potential of enhancing the role of international development in our foreign policy? and will he also confirm that this government's commitment to investing in support in the poorest areas of our

david: on the evolution for the dfid out of the foreign office, when it is not broken, don't fix it.tment of international development is a leader in global aid not just policy, but implementation. it is an effective lever and also a very good source of soft power for the u.k.. it is a mystifying decision even if we were not in the pandemic. in the middle of pandemic, the danger is that the bureaucratic reshuffle gets in the way of delivery at the frontline. on the second question on the labour story, i haven't read the report your referring to. but it sounds like it recognizes the scale of the problem. the labour party has lost four elections. eight through our the last election with a set of promises that were not believed in rendered the party and electable. unrendered the party electable. if the report is the first step towards realism about what labour needs to do, then that is a good thing. guy: david miliband, we will leave it there. thank you very much thank you. has of the international rescue committee. this is bloomberg. ♪ save hundreds on your wireless bill without even l