Alan Duncan: Accused Labour of "lying"

The Conservatives have criticised the prime minister's Commission for Africa report ahead of its publication this week.

Shadow international development secretary Alan Duncan said of the flagship project "there is a real danger it will fail".

Tony Blair is set to join other international figures on Friday to unveil the report which will form the basis of his campaign to secure more aid for the continent at July's G8 summit in Scotland.

But the Opposition spokesman used a press conference on his party's development policy to claim the blueprint could fall short of its objectives.

'Lip service'

Hinting that he had already seen parts of the report he said it paid only "lip service" to the issue of good governance in Africa and failed to set out a clear programme of action for reform.

"The poor of the world need action not words," Duncan said.

"From what we have seen there is a real danger the Africa Commission will fail," he added.

"[The report] doesn't seem to know if it is an academic tract or a programme for action. It must be a programme for action."

Under Blair's chairmanship, the Commission has spent the past year investigating issues such as debt relief, trade, governance and disease.

However, the prime minister has been keen to ensure the report proposed "African solutions for African problems" with several ministers from countries on the continent involved.

But the Tories also claimed that the issue of Zimbabwe, where president Robert Mugabe has continually breached human rights and democracy, should be a "litmus test" for the Commission's claim to be putting Africa at the top of the government's agenda for the G8 presidency this year.

"If it can't solve the Zimbabwe problem it won't solve the poverty problem," Duncan argued.

'Deception'

Earlier, ministers moved to dismiss the Conservative commitment to international aid.

International development secretary Hilary Benn said their record in government had been to halve the aid budget.

"Between 1979 and 1997 the Tories cut the aid budget as a proportion of national wealth from 0.51 per cent to only 0.26 per cent," said the Cabinet minister.

"In 1992, their manifesto expressed their commitment to meet the long-term UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP – but they then proceeded to cut the aid as a percentage of national wealth even further.

"Why should we trust the Tories to act differently this time?"

But at the press conference Duncan, accompanied by party leader Michael Howard, accused Labour of "lying".

With the Opposition committed to matching government spending on aid, the Conservatives told Benn to "back off".

"For weeks, despite unequivocal figures in our spending plans, Labour continues to peddle the outright lie that we are going to cut spending," Duncan said.

"They have even linked this false allegation to an attempt to solicit members and money for themselves, by claiming that Labour was the only party that cared about the plight of the poor. To raise party funds on the back of a lie amounts to obtaining money by deception."