On Tuesday in the House of Commons, Stephen urged MPs to vote against Government cuts to international aid.
MPs debated a motion to reduce overseas aid spending from the legally binding target of 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. Stephen argued against the cuts, drawing on the work of the Christian charity Compassion UK and their Child Survival Programme. With the help of UK aid, this programme has supported over 4,000 people in extreme poverty.
Speaking in the debate, Stephen said “even a small amount of aid saves lives. The cuts to UK aid put thousands of projects, like those run by Compassion UK…at risk.”
After the debate, MPs backed the bill to reduce international aid by around £4.4 billion by 333 votes to 298, making the UK the only G7 nation to cut its aid budget this year.
You can watch Stephen’s speech below.