MARIE STOPES INTERNATIONAL FUNDING

That this House notes that the organisation Marie Stopes International (MSI), which performed almost five million abortions in 2018, has had its funding from Her Majesty's Government increased by over 5,000 per cent in the last 12 years to over £48 million in 2018 making the UK taxpayer the largest donor to that organisation; that the increase comes at the same time as the Charity Commission is investigating MSI for rewarding its chief executive, Simon Cooke, a total salary package in excess of £400,000; further notes that a recent highly critical Independent Commission for Aid Impact report condemned the Department for International Development for favouring abortion funding at the expense of strengthening the delivery of quality maternal care programmes, further notes that polling has shown that 65 per cent of the British population are opposed to taxpayer money being used to fund abortions overseas; and calls on the Government to cut international development funding provided to Marie Stopes International.