Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Exclusive: ‘Global stability can boost UK growth and curb migration’

Foreign Office minister explains the UK's priorities on her visit to the G20 Development Ministers' Meeting in Rio

Exclusive: ‘Global stability can boost UK growth and curb migration’

Extreme hunger. Desperate poverty. Shocking inequality. In 2024, these problems should be consigned to history. Sadly, they are continuing to fester across much of the world today.

This week, most of the world’s biggest countries came together at the G20 Development Ministers’ meeting in Brazil to consider how to tackle them. Given the scale of the global challenges we face, there is no time to waste.


As the UK government’s new minister for international development, it has been my privilege to represent our country at these important talks.

This was also my first overseas trip since the new Labour government was elected on a mandate for change. Part of that change will be the restoration of our development reputation on the global stage.

The G20 presented an early opportunity to reconnect Britain on the global stage by showing that we intend to work with – not against – our international partners to tackle global challenges like the climate crisis, regional conflicts, extreme hunger and desperate poverty.

Sadly, none of us are strangers to these crises – we have all seen the desperate images of suffering and destruction on our social media feeds and TV screens. I know this can feel distant or unrelated to our day-to-day lives – something that happens somewhere else – but we cannot afford to think that way. Because the fact is these events aren’t just somebody else’s problem.

Of course, there is a moral reason why the UK should – indeed must – help people trapped in crisis and conflict. But it is also in our own interests to do so, and I want to explain why.

Global stability and prosperity are good for us all, helping deliver stronger trade and economic growth, boosting jobs and opportunity both at home and abroad.

It also drives down migration, helping to undermine the business model of the criminal gangs who are profiteering from human misery in the Channel and across Europe.

So how do the UK and our international partners deliver the stability and growth the world urgently needs?

First, by looking beyond the quick fix and addressing the root causes of global problems, rather than simply dealing with the symptoms. A modern approach to international development must be rooted in a long-term problem-solving approach.

Second, we must tackle unsustainable debt and unlock the finance needed to make a real difference to cutting carbon emissions and reducing the impacts of the climate and nature crisis. As a global financial centre, the UK can be an international leader in this space, and I intend to harness that potential in the years to come.

Third, we must do everything we can to prevent the conflicts that drive people from their homes and into hunger and poverty. That’s where development and diplomacy overlap, and I’m pleased that the UK is leading the way in deploying our diplomatic and development expertise to tackle global conflicts.

Fourth, we need to work in genuine partnership with countries in the Global South so that we are supporting local solutions to problems, rather than suggesting we alone know best how to make things right.

That’s why I approached the meeting in Brazil as a genuine partnership of equals, learning from each other so that we can support sustainable economic growth that delivers opportunity – and hope – to young, growing populations.

Finally, as the minister for international development and women and equalities, I am determined to empower women and girls so that they too can benefit from good education, decent healthcare and economic opportunity.

Respect. Partnership. Common Interests. These are the values I took to the G20 this week, as I start work on our mission to create a world free from poverty, on a liveable planet.

Change begins now.

(Anneliese Dodds is the minister of state at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and for women and equalities)

More For You

UK Weather Alert: June Heatwave to Hit 34°C, Breaking Records

The UK is bracing for potentially one of the hottest June days on record

iStock

UK set for one of the hottest June days with highs of 34°C

Key points

  • Temperatures may hit 34°C in Greater London and Bedfordshire
  • Amber alert in place across five regions due to health risks
  • Wimbledon’s opening day to be hottest on record
  • Risk of wildfires in London labelled “severe”
  • Scotland and Northern Ireland remain cooler

Hottest June day in years expected as second UK heatwave peaks

The UK is bracing for potentially one of the hottest June days on record, with temperatures expected to reach 34°C on Monday (30 June). The ongoing heatwave, now in its fourth day, is most intense across the South and East of England, particularly in Greater London and Bedfordshire.

Although there is a small chance of temperatures hitting 35°C, they are unlikely to surpass the all-time June record of 35.6°C set in 1976.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

Probing all angles in Air India crash, including sabotage: Minister

INDIA’s junior civil aviation minister said on Sunday that all possible angles, including sabotage, were being looked into as part of the investigation into the Air India crash.

All but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were killed when it crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. Authorities have identified 19 others who died on the ground. However, a police source told AFP after the crash that the death toll on the ground was 38.

Keep ReadingShow less
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury

Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury

BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.

"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).

Keep ReadingShow less
Three killed, dozens injured in India temple stampede

Police officials visit the site after a stampede near Shree Gundicha Temple, in Puri, Odisha, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (PTI Photo)

Three killed, dozens injured in India temple stampede

AT LEAST three people, including two women, died and around 50 others were injured in a stampede near the Shree Gundicha Temple in Puri, Odisha, Indian, on Sunday (29) morning, according to local officials.

The incident occurred around 4am (local time) as hundreds of devotees gathered to witness the Rath Yatra (chariot festival), Puri district collector Siddharth S Swain confirmed.

Keep ReadingShow less
F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less