At the end of an eventful week, this afternoon I went to a gathering with Hilary Benn (Secretary of State for International Development). Benn is popular up here- not least because his dad is a bit of a socialist legend- and he did his popularity no harm in admitting (unlike other members of the cabinet) that there had been no progress on making trade work for the developing world.
Unfortunately, Benn gave little cause for optimism, dodging questions and not commiting to any progress on these issue. Baring in mind unfair trade costs the developing world twice as much as they receive in aid, that's a major disappointment (especially if you're a Ghanaian rice farmer)... I guess I would say that though wouldn't I?
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