The Lib Dem Layla Moran

BY GEORGIA HENEAGE

“We rely on Save the Children and other smaller charities for a lot of the work that we do,” says Moran.“They are now in a moment of crisis: the proportion of charities potentially going under is enormously high. I’m seriously concerned about that: as soon as an organisation folds you lose that institutional knowledge. We really will struggle to get those links back up and reestablish the important role they play in both civil society in the UK and also abroad. If smaller charities start to go under, then I think we’re in real trouble”.

five we were living in Ethiopia in the midst of its war with Eritrea.

I was exposed to huge levels of poverty - literally on my doorstep - and constant military parades outside our house for months.

“I remember asking my father why this was happening, and he explained to me that the dictator who ruled at the time wanted to exert his own power and chose to spend money on tanks over feeding starving people. It became a huge driving force on why I care so much about these issues.

You can talk about geopolitical shifts and you can speak philosophically and esoterically about world politics, but in the end it all comes down to real people. I keep those individuals in the front of my mind- that’s my motivation and everything else stems from there.”

One answer, says Moran, may be to alter the charity model post-Covid.” It’s now time for charities to join their voices together; I think we need a coordinated response to raise public awareness”.

As an MP of Palestinian descent - the very first, in fact - Moran says her background and life experiences have shaped her view of the part we must all play in helping those less lucky than us. It does make you appreciate the world in a different way, says Moran.

“We were taught to appreciate everything we had - as a refugee, my mother had almost nothing growing up and she had to develop enormous resilience.” Moran still has family in Palestine who are living in segregated circumstances, and says it’s “heartbreaking” to hear the stories from back home.

Her father’s job in the diplomatic service for the EU meant that Moran grew up living in war-torn countries like Ethiopia and Jordan. “ Those very early memories were so important”, says Moran. “I remember when I was about

Moran also argues that the way the UK government has approached the vaccine roll-out has only served to highlight our innately “insular” nature: “We haven’t appreciated that no one is safe until everyone is safe. There are parts of the UK where 50 per cent of people are vaccinated - which is an extraordinary achievement - but there are places in the world where not even a handful of health care workers have had the jab. It’s important that we help to tackle the world’s problems together. It beggars belief that the government isn’t listening.”