The United Kingdom’s opposition Labour Party is poised to take power in the July 4 national election, and its leaders are noisily condemning how the country’s “world-leading expertise in international development” has been “degraded” by 14 years of Conservative rule.
The party’s election manifesto promises to “turn the page to rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development with a new approach” — but the reality is very different, said two experts brought together by Devex.
What Labour is really offering is “consensus” in most areas, according to Olivia O’Sullivan, director of U.K. in the World Programme at the think tank Chatham House, and Gideon Rabinowitz, policy director at Bond, the U.K. network for organizations working in international development.