Tackling deprivation around the world is a moral imperative and firmly in Britain's national interest.

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Mitchell accepted that a smaller aid budget might have meant fewer cuts elsewhere but insisted that development projects also helped protect Britain. The aid had been suspended in July along with other governments' aid over concerns about Rwanda's alleged support of the rebel March 23 Movement in east Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Andrew John Bower Mitchell (born 23 March 1956) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton Coldfield since 2001. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2010 to 2012 and then briefly as Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons until he resigned after losing the confidence of many of his colleagues following an altercation with police. He was the MP for Gedling from 1987 to 1997.