PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice has welcomed Chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to write off 100 per cent of the nation's debt from the world's poorest countries.

He paid tribute to the churches and community groups in Pendle who had campaigned for debt relief for these nations.

Mr Brown announced the decision last week and said that Britain would no longer demand repayment of debt to the worst off countries in the world.

Mr Prentice said: "This is a significant move as we enter a new millennium. "Hundreds of millions of pounds of debt will be written off and will be spent reducing poverty in the world's poorest countries - not bureaucracy, corruption or weapons.

"By linking the relief directly to poverty reduction, help will be targeted at the most crucial areas - improving health care and education among them.

"The Ugandan government has indicated that every penny saved in debt relief will go towards halving the teacher pupil ratio and a new school building programme.

"The countries helped will drive forward their own poverty strategies in consultation with civic societies and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"These strategies will be explicitly linked to achieving agreed international development goals, so that at every stage tackling poverty is driving the process."

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