Britain is to lead an international campaign to cancel as much debt as possible for poorer nations before the millennium, the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, promised yesterday.
Mr Blair told the Commons at question time that debt relief was of concern to millions around the world and it was the right thing to do in the run-up to 2000.
The government had also increased the Overseas Aid budget by the largest amount ever, after years of decline.
Earlier, the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, unveiled a fourpoint plan aimed at easing the debt burden crippling Third World countries.
The four elements of the government's plan are:
Cutting Third World debt by $50 billion by changes to World Bank and International Monetary Fund debt relief schemes;
Boosting aid through a plea to developed countries to increase their help for poor countries by $60 billion in programmes to help reduce poverty through social, health and education initiatives;
Challenging charities and other non-governmental organisations to increase their aid to Third World countries by $1 billion by the end of 2000, with the UK government allowing charities to claim tax relief on donations over £100 to support special projects.
Selling $1 billion of the IMF's gold reserves to fund enhanced debt relief through a special scheme for heavily indebted poor countries.