I'll Vote For Any Party That Pledges To End Foriegn Aid.

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39650012
Keep your nose out Bill, you have enough dosh to pay "our share" if you insist it must be paid.
Anyway which party want the TTT vote then?

[fender62]

same here

[emmie]

what do we pay so far in foreign aid, 0.07 per cent
worth how much, 10 billion? if that money made a difference i would say that it should stay the same, but it doesn't seem to, droughts, war, famine continue no matter what we contribute.
Your vote should go to the best party to lead us
I would say that would be the tories, but i am a tad biased.

[emmie]

why do we give money to India, Pakistan, is it to keep them on our side so to speak?

[Jackdaw33]

Any country which can establish a nuclear industry of space programme should not be in receipt of any foreign aid.

[Jackdaw33]

For of read or. ^^^

[ToraToraTora]

chirridee begins at home we should not be funding anyone let alone nuclear powers with a space program, end of.

[Guilbert53]

It is not a simple as that. Foreign Aid is as much about politics and diplomacy and trade as it is about helping poor people.

For example countries such as Russia will often aid countries with money or arms or both.

If WE (the West) don't give aid to those countries then they will get it off Russia and hence perhaps help spread "communism" and cause other political and military problems (like in Ukraine).

By giving aid to other countries it helps to keep them our "friends" and to allow us to install spying listening posts in their countries (like in say Pakistan) and they are more likely to keep us up to date on what is going on in Afghanistan and Iran than if we gave them no money (yes it is a bribe I suppose).

And counties like Pakistan are more likely to buy arms and other technology off us if we give them money rather than buy it from say Russia or China.

I think most of us have no idea of the level of "secret" diplomacy and discussion that goes in on the Foreign Office and with other countries like the USA, Germany and so on and I think Foreign Aid is all part of that.

Don't get me wrong, I am not happy that we pay out billions of pounds when our country could do with it to sort out our infrastructure, but it is not as simple as saying we should just stop paying out foreign aid.

[emmie]

so we essentially bribe countries into liking us enough to spy for us, buy our armaments and generally keep on our side.

[webbo3]

we've given aid to North Korea.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/793093/north-korea-britain-foreign-aid-arron-banks-kim-jong-un-nuclear-threat

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/18/uk-gave-4-million-foreign-aid-north-korea-past-six-years/


Dave.

[ToraToraTora]

well can we at least stop calling it "aid" then what about "bribery"?

[emmie]

madness in giving money to North Korea, no matter how small, makes no sense.

[Bazile]

Yes , unfortunately that's the way of the world .
Until the time comes when all nations gets on with each other , governments 'need ' to 'shake hands' sometimes with unsavoury regimes , for the good of their peoples .

I can't see the benefits of giving aid to North Korea though - that's puzzling

[Jackdaw33]

To answer your last question TTT, changing the a in your user name to y will provide the solution.

[ichkeria]

Guilbert is quite right. One can argue about the amounts and the recipients, but foreign aid is a way of 'networking' in an increasingly connected but unpredictable world.
We can cut ourselves off from that if we like as long as we don't complain about the consequences .

[ichkeria]

It isn't madness, necessarily, giving money to N Korea. If only because we might be able to threaten to take it away ... :-)

[dannyk13]

Last night I watched an interview with Bill Gates regarding foreign aid and his opinion was more less exactly the same as what Guilbert says in his post.

[Guilbert53]

>>>well can we at least stop calling it "aid" then what about "bribery"?

But it is like any private business trying to get contracts in some foreign countries.

You HAVE to bribe them to get the contract, but you cant put that in your accounts so you put "consultant fees" or something like that.

How do you think Russia and Qatar got awarded the next two football World Cups (particularly when you see how corrupt FIFA are?

[sp1814]

Hoorah!

We have some new AB new conttibutors who know exactly what foreign aid is really about.

Way too many people think it's a form of charity.

It's not.

Charity is like when you (as an individual) give money to say, Oxfam. You get nothing in return apart from a nice warm feeling.

Foreign aid is not about simply throwing money away (no matter what certain elements in the popular press would have you believe).

It's about gaining influence. It's about presence. It's a form of bribery. And it's not all about money. It's also about ensuring that British interests are supported in regions which we will want to have future economic or political influence.

Before voting for a party who promises to reduce the foreign aid budget to 0% percent, should we not first establish exactly what monetary benefits we get in return?

And how do we establish a calculation for influence both political and economic?