John Major Commentary on financial aid to our poorest fellow citizens:

I did care, but I didn't do enough

G8 has often fallen short, but this year it has a chance to surprise us

John Major

Wednesday July 6, 2005

The Guardian

It is what one does not do in life that one regrets. I know about dire poverty. I saw it in Nigeria, as a young man, during the Biafran war. And yet, looking back, I know I did far too little to end it.

I did write off debt, both as chancellor and as prime minister. I did - year after year - protect the aid budget against the ravages of more popular claims. I did care about it, but I did not do nearly enough to end it.

There are excuses: the recession I inherited; the slender majority in parliament; the squabbles over Europe; the internecine warfare that distracted my attention; the fact that the issue was lower profile then. I can cite all these reasons for inaction, but none of them convinces my conscience. I should have done more. The leaders of the G8 nations now have the opportunity to put right what so many governments, in so many countries, over so many years, failed to do adequately.

In some parts of the world, corruption and poverty condemn untold millions to a life of misery and hardship. Some may say: "Well, that's their problem. Bad government, bad economic decisions, bad judgments created this." Well, maybe, but their problem? Half the world's population is under 24: in no way can they be held responsible for the conditions in which they live. And, in any event, the world as a whole is having to live with the resentment, bitterness and political hostility that poverty breeds.

Our world has six billion souls. Of these six billion, one half lives on less than $2 per day, and one fifth on less than $1 per day. I daresay few westerners would hesitate in spending several times that sum on a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It is hard to imagine the disparity of the life of the truly poor with someone on the lowest levels of social support in the developed nations.

The rich nations do much to help - but not enough: far more is needed. Collectively, they spend $50bn on overseas aid - an enormous sum: but less generous than it seems when you realise that Europe and America spend $350bn on agricultural subsidies alone.

This policy is even more unpalatable because such subsidies cut away the possibility of poor nations selling their agricultural produce into developed markets. Surely we should recognise that our own long-term self-interest should combine with common humanity to acknowledge that if we are right to wage war on terror - and we are - then it is right to wage war on poverty and hardship as well. This is wise policy in a world fuelled, too often, by hatred.

Moreover, if we do nothing the problem will worsen. In the next 25 years, world population will grow from 6 billion to 8 billion. Of the additional 2 billion, 97% will be in that part of the world that has an income below $2 per day. This is not sustainable if we wish our children to inherit a world free of conflict. Nor is it moral.

Action will come, for it cannot be ignored. The question is when? Too late, and much unnecessary death and suffering will have been endured. Too late, and there will be little political gain for grudging and delayed humanity. But if we act early, act out of conscience, we can foreclose on misery and hardship to come.

There is an argument advanced that Africa will squander any extra aid money; despotic governments will steal it and it will never reach those for whom it is intended. This is a counsel of despair that does not convince.

Help need not be in cash but can be in kind: in irrigation schemes, in farming implements, in medical care, in education, in food, in practical assistance to build the self-sustaining future the poor have never known. To deny this help because of past misdeeds is an unsustainable argument: it was not the hungry, the sick and the dying who squandered past aid, and they should not be punished for it.

Nor should the argument prevail that trade is the only way forward. Trade and investment is vital - of course it is. So is corporate responsibility. The multinationals in particular could do far more, and should. But these should not be cited as an alternative to what is politically wise and morally correct for governments to do.

The G8 has often fallen short of what it could achieve. It meets; it pronounces - and too little changes. This year, under the chairmanship of the UK, it has a marvellous opportunity to surprise us all. The cause is good, the need is great, and action is imperative.

If the G8 raises its game, the leaders of the industrial world can show that the free market actually has a heart at its core: this can be a summit that brings hope to millions who have nothing - and life to millions who otherwise will lose it.

· John Major was prime minister from 1990 to 1997.