Brown Cabinet has 'Potential to Tackle World Poverty', says Christian Aid

Christian Aid has warmly welcomed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's new political appointments saying that the changes were a good sign of his commitment to the world's poor.

In particular, Christian Aid praised the appointment of Douglas Alexander to the Department of International Development and of Hilary Benn to the Environment Department.

Sally Golding, Christian Aid's chief political advisor, said: "We're delighted that Gordon Brown, has chosen Douglas Alexander to head the Department for International Development and to increase the number of ministers there. This is a clear sign that the Prime Minister is continuing to take the eradication of global poverty seriously.

"Douglas Alexander is an intelligent and capable politician and one of Gordon's closest allies, promising to be a major figure in the new administration. At Christian Aid we hope to develop a frank, constructive and close relationship with him. Alongside the more traditional poverty issues, a key challenge for him will be climate change which threatens to undermine the gains made in tackling global poverty."

Ms Golding said that Christian Aid had a "strong relationship" with Hilary Benn during his time at DFID and expressed her hope that the relationship would remain close after he takes up his new post at DEFRA.

"He will need to bring his talents to bear in ensuring that a strong and effective climate change bill is passed, to make sure the UK cuts its fair share of carbon emissions," she said.

"Developing countries have contributed least to the problem but suffer first and worst from the effects of climate change, so his experience of working with poor countries will be indispensable in striking a global deal on climate change that cuts emissions but is also fair and equitable."

Ms Golding also welcomed David Miliband as the new Foreign Secretary.

"Given his work in introducing the climate change bill, we are sure he will build on Margaret Beckett's work to gear up the international community to face the huge challenge of climate change. We also hope he will take forward a truly multilateral and impartial foreign policy that urgently addresses the worsening humanitarian crises in Darfur and the occupied Palestinian Territories."

Ms Golding also called on Alistair Darling, the new Chancellor, to work to increase aid and debt relief and ensure proper representation for poor countries at the IMF and World Bank.

"He must also put the UK's own house in order by taking urgent action to ensure the UK cracks down on corruption and ensures money stolen from poor countries can be traced and repatriated by introducing transparency to the tax havens under its jurisdiction," she said.

Ms Golding said the Cabinet appointments augured well for the poor, the environment and for foreign policy.

"Christian Aid feels that the new Cabinet has the potential to push forward on tackling world poverty and on positively challenging the international community to deal with issues such as the environment and international humanitarian crises in Darfur, the Middle East and elsewhere," she concluded.