What do we think about ring-fencing foreign aid? Is it only UKIP supporters that think we should revise our generous contribution down from 0.7% to 0.2%, whatever that means in actual terms?
Only, I can understand that there are various reasons, other than the purely altruistic, why it’s best practice to forge good relations with various developing nations and that ultimately, helping them helps us.
But hearing tales of corruption and misappropriation of £millions of Dfid dosh makes you think again.
There is one aspect of the current scenario that could arguably justify a sizeable sum of our foreign aid budget being redirected back from whence it came. The fact that terrorism is a global problem, ignited abroad, carried out by idiots recruited from abroad and aided and abetted by home-grown and foreign sympathisers of our enemies overseas. Foreign stuff.
So why shouldn’t we should divert a large chunk of our foreign aid budget back home to defend ourselves against foreign-propagated violence and use it to fund extra police, additional counter-terrorism manpower and generally expand whatever services are deemed necessary to keep us safe?
Craig, The money we throw away through our Foreign Aid budget is obscene. It is sheer criminality on the parts of all present and previous governments. And Cameron even wanted to increase it. He was humiliated by the Indian government when they said they didn't need it. I guess they had enough cash for their Space program... never mind the millions of Indians living in poverty.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think of the Nurses frozen pay packets, the cuts in Schools and Hospitals and now the news that many Police Stations are closing down, it's hardly surprising that this is one of my main gripes with politicians.
Why do we feel that by rising in the International popular stakes we have to try to compete with other countries foreign aid targets, and quite often beating them by offering to send more.
Sadly I have to agree with UKIP's policy of cutting right back. Canada once did it temporarily until they got their books straight. Why cant we.
Glad to see that it was also brought up in the BBC May/Corbyn Question Time where Teresa May was asked to justify why we send money to North Korea. And shock of all shock Mrs May wasn't even aware of the details of money sent to that rogue nation.
John - London.
There's a valid reason for certain foreign aid. What is idiotic is the insistence on a fixed percentage of GDP. That is pure virtue-signaling, and guarantees the spending will not be reformed.
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