THE International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Bill will be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow (Friday, September 12).

The Bill aims to enshrine in law the UK Government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance. I will be supporting this Bill and I know from the many e-mails and letters I’ve received from constituents in Penarth and across Cardiff that there is strong local support for it.

Helping the world’s poorest people is not only our moral duty in this world of conflict, instability, climate change and many other challenges – it is in our common interest.

I was personally part of the team that drafted a similar law in the last Labour government, but unfortunately we ran out of time to get it passed. I will be delighted to finally see this measure passed and I hope that there will be cross-party support for it.

It will build on the progress we made in the previous Labour government, when our aid budget trebled, historic agreements were reached on debt reduction to some of the world’s poorest countries, three million people were helped out of poverty a year, and 40 million people into education.

British aid changes and saves lives. It makes a huge difference to millions of people – from the provision of malaria nets or crisis support, through to programmes that empower women and girls or offer business support so people can work their way out of poverty.

We should be proud of what our commitment can do for those in need, and what it says about us as a country.

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As I write this column, I have again travelled up to Scotland to help make the case for why we are ‘better together’, ahead of next week’s independence referendum.

The referendum is proving to be a very tight contest, but it matters to all our futures whether Scotland stays part of the union.

I would encourage anyone locally who feels strongly about this issue to make their views known to friends and relatives in Scotland, and to show a clear display of solidarity between all the people of these islands.

You can also sign an online pledge by visiting the website of ‘Let’s Stay Together’ – a UK-wide campaign set up to give people who don’t have a vote in the referendum the chance to show their support. Visit https://www.letsstaytogether.org.uk/