Is It Time That The Uk Cut Back On Foreign Aid?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/408367/Anger-as-Britain-gives-more-foreign-aid-than-any-other-G8-country

Why is it that UK citizens have to endure cut backs after cut backs, while our government continue to increase foreign aid year by year?

[Gromit]

Do you really believe we spend more on Aid than the US.

Do you never read these weasily words and think, that can't be right?

The US spends $37billion, rather more than our £8.3billion.

As has been pointed out many times before, British companies are usually the ones who get the contracts to deliver the aid.

Rather than whinge about the amount, we should be very proud of it.

[emmie]

see my thread on local councils, a programme was on last evening about it, what has this to do with foreign aid, well we are suffering major cutbacks whilst the councils are spending our dosh willy nilly. I agree to some extent on humanitarian aid, but thats it.

[jim360]

They did later make it clear that this was "more as a percentage of national income", to be fair. I think we should certainly make sure that the money in foreign aid is well-spent, going to the right places etc., but I wouldn't want to see foreign aid cut back just for the sake of it. Our lives are unlikely to improve that significantly for want of £8 billion (although I am sure it will help) but can go a long way for people who have close to nothing.

[Gromit]

Cameron, last week:

// Addressing the conference, Mr Cameron said that Britain was leading the way on aid even through the amount the country spent on aid was equivalent to just 1p from every £1 of tax paid.

"We are the kind of people who believe in doing what is right," Mr Cameron told the conference in London," 

"We accept the moral case for keeping our promises to the world's poorest even when we face challenges at home.
"When people are dying, we don't believe in finding excuses. We believe in trying to do something about it." //

Spot on.

[Gromit]

Em10

Councils are funded from the Council Tax. The reason local councils are facing cutbacks is because the Government have told them not to raise the Council Tax. When inflation is taken into account, that means it is generating less money to spend than last year. Hence libraries etc are being cut.

[Ann]

//"We accept the moral case for keeping our promises to the world's poorest even when we face challenges at home.//
I have no objections to that statement from DC whatsoever, BUT providing it actually gets to those poorest/starving/homeless people. I don't believe it does.

[chrisgel]

//The United Nations has long established the target of 0.7% GDP for development assistance, although only four countries actually achieve this: Denmark, 1.01%; Norway, 0.91%; the Netherlands, 0.79%; Sweden, 0.7%. Apart from being the least generous nation, the US is highly selective in who receives its aid. Over 50% of its aid budget is spent on middle-income countries in the Middle East, with Israel being the recipient of the largest single share.//
http://www.vexen.co.uk/USA/foreign_aid.html

Also America classes at least some of the cost of it's armed forces deployed in foreign countries as Aid.

[sir.prize]

David Cameron announced that over the next four years, British aid for education in Pakistan could reach £650 million, even as its government spent billions on military equipment.

So we announce an increase of £180m to Pakistan's aid bill when 70% of the country's own politicians pay NO tax?

[sir.prize]

Oh yes and this became effective today . . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22947436

[FredPuli43]

One thing is certain. This topic only becomes of interest to the public at large, including readers of the Express, when there are cut backs domestically. If we stopped all aid altogether that would represent only a tiny amount, in percentage terms , to the citizen.

[jake-the-peg]

It's always attractive to save public money at someone else's expense isn't it?

[bazwillrun]

no, lets keep throwing money down this bottomless pit, after all we dont need it here in the UK for anything do we.

we havent got people over here dying because they cant afford to keep themselves warm in winter etc etc etc

absolutely ridiculous that we still keep on dishing it out to these countries

[Sqad]

The UK prides itself in it's top spot in the world of democracy, fairmindedness and social equality, so stop moaning about giving money to poorly developed countries and "freedom regimes"............you know it makes you feel better.

[sir.prize]

Yea. yeah. yeah sqad.

Send 'em money; they send us terrorists.

[factor-fiction]

This article is fairly informative
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/mar/20/uk-aid-spend-important-works

[chrisgel]

A very interesting article Factor - Thanks

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

/// The US spends $37billion, rather more than our £8.3billion. ///

Perhaps you should read those weasily words correctly.

It is referring to the proportion of National Income.

[andy-hughes]

As I understand it, our Aid Budget is a fraction of one per cent of our GDP, and can be seen as an investment - aid to poor countires encourages them to trade with us as they develop, which is part of the reason for doing do.

Personally, I would slash the Defence Budget and ship it over to the NHS and Social Services, but i would ring-fence 90% of it for Pre-School Education - which is where our future citizens are going to come from.

[naomi24]

As has been said, we should be rather more aware that the money doesn't always go to the most needy nations - or to the most needy people.

[vetuste_ennemi]

"Poor people in rich countries giving to rich people in poor countries" remarked one cynic.