In the light of the present global economic climate it would be easy for Governments to quietly break promises made on aid to developing countries. Thankfully, the UK Government has done just the opposite.

It has just set out new measures to help the 1.4 billion people who still live in poverty across the world including

• new investment in healthcare for mothers and new born children
• plans to support over eight million more children in Africa to go to school
• aid to help developing countries cope with climate change

In June I helped to organise a public meeting in Edinburgh at which Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for International Development talked about his work. There was a large and well-informed audience which was not afraid to ask searching questions but Douglas’s commitment came through strongly.

The global economic crisis has hit developing countries hard. It is not just the risk that Governments will devote a smaller proportion of their budgets to overseas aid. Developing countries are finding it harder to obtain finance from foreign banks and the amount of money sent home by migrant workers has also fallen.

Aid and fair trade are in our own self-interest. Britain's fastest growing export markets are in poor countries whilst violent extremism is more likely to flourish against a background of economic injustice.  

In Parliament, I have been supporting a Bill to clamp down on financial companies that buy up poor countries' debt cheaply and then go to court to demand repayment in full which can be several times what they paid for the debt. They are known as vulture funds because of the way they feed off other peoples’ suffering.

I was proud to be involved in Edinburgh becoming a fair trade city in 2004 and there will be a celebration of Fair Trade on the Fringe in Grassmarket, 28 - 31 August. It’s a free event and should be good fun with live music, children's activities, and fair trade stalls.  

It is also really exciting to see that Edinburgh University is going to refuse to licence medicines developed in its labs to pharmaceutical companies unless they supply them at cost to developing countries. Edinburgh is the first British university to take such a strong stand. This will force companies to provide inexpensive medicines to people who would otherwise die simply because they lack cheap and effective drugs.

It’s clear from the University’s action and the meeting with Douglas Alexander that there are a lot of people locally with the vision and passion to make our world a fairer place.