After the Drought Crisis last winter, there was a condition of financial catastrophe in the water authorities in some parts of the United Kingdom, and the Government had to act, and act fast.

The caring British public, which responded so overwhelmingly to the Drought Crisis in Ethiopia, is beginning to understand that a far higher share of food aid is going to the Addis Ababa Government that to the liberated areas - 30 times more.

It will simply be remedying a Drought Crisis after hundreds of thousands or millions of people have died rather than being able to build on a sure foundation.

The motion alleges that we have not provided an effective response to the Drought Crisis.

We also recognise that some of the responsibility for slow aid spending rests with the ACP states, but we trust that the Minister also agrees that in many cases they are administratively weak and that recently they have been overwhelmed, especially in Africa, by the scale of the Drought Crisis.

Such action has been taken before in the Drought Crisis of the early 1970s, when my right hon. Friend the Member for Clydesdale (Dame J. Hart), who was then Minister for Overseas Development, got conflicting reports about the nature of the drought in sub-Saharan Africa in Chad, Niger, Mali and Upper Volta, as it then was.

In August last year the Secretary of State told us to stop whingeing and to enjoy the weather - that is how seriously he took the impact of the Drought Crisis in west Yorkshire.

A Drought Crisis that could be handled otherwise may become a famine owing to misgovernment.

The terrible Crisis of Drought, food shortages and starvation in Niger is a vivid reason why we must have international action on development.