Government should spend money on foreign aid to keep Britain safe, MEP tells Bolton residents

MEP Linda McAvan, chair of the European Parliament’s Overseas Development Committee, was speaking at a "listening event" in Heaton organised by Bolton West MP Julie Hilling.

Ms McAvan said that despite growing scepticism about Britain’s position within the EU, she believed continued membership was the best way to make sure the country’s interests were protected.

She said: “We live in a world where there are a number of growing powers — India, China and Brazil — and when you go to trade meetings as Britain on our own you don’t have the same influence.

“If you are part of a big block, you have clout and strength in numbers.”

EU membership also reduces the chance of conflict, she told guests at Christ Church Parish Centre off Chorley New Road.

Ms McAvan added: “If countries work together economically, it reinforces democracy and makes conflict much less likely.

"No democracy has gone to war with each other.”

In an increasingly interconnected world, Ms McAvan also defended the size of Britain’s foreign aid budget as a way of protecting this country’s residents and interests.

She said: “When you look at the spread of Ebola, it would be much more sensible for us to spend money on creating a decent health services in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia than responding to an emergency situation which is more expensive.

“With Isis and Syria, it is affecting Britain and it becomes a threat to our security.

“If we spend money in international development, on women’s rights, on health care in developing nations, it helps Britain and makes our lives and the future of our citizens safer.”

Ms Hilling, who is the opposition whip on international development in Parliament, said she was delighted to welcome Ms McEvan to Bolton West.

She said: “All of the residents’ views that we have heard today will be fed back to the Labour party leadership when I am in Parliament, and help inform policy in the future.”