aid

[MORELLO]

Is it just me, or is anyone else appalled at the paltry sums of money pledged by governments to help those areas affected by recent events in Asia?! �15m by ourselves - we probably gave more than that to illegal immigrants/non genuine asylum seekers and benefit cheats this year! �30m from the good old US of A -absolutely disgusting. Sitting there last night watching those terrible images on the news hearing 'how much' has been pledged made me so angry. The players of Chelsea could match such figures, never mind the likes of Bill Gates, Paul Mc Cartney and 'save the world' Bono. Makes me sick when you realise a small number of people have the wealth and power to help but rarely do, citing they 'give their time and dedication'. Dig deep.

[Flanker8]

Hear hear Morello, I am equally appalled - and you are dead right, McCartney and Bono (especially Bono) are so effing pious it makes me want to throw up. These people are worth hundreds of millions (I heard somewhere that Mcartney is worth �600m - if this is indeed the case, surely he could give �100m, and then, poor love, struggle on with �500m!).

 

I'm doing what I can, it isn't much, but its what I can afford - the images of those kids looking for their (probably dead) parents was just heart breaking.

 

How about diverting the money from the truly awful Do They Know Its Christmas single from Africa (which gets far too much of our charity money in my opinion) to the disaster area?

[MORELLO]

Diverting some other charity money is a good idea. McCartney's actually worth �760m according to those 'rich lists'!

[Zen]

It's all the country can afford !! Don't forget we have to pay the EU �30 million pound a day so they can lose 6 BILLION a year through fraud.Then there's the cost of bombing Iraqi women and children to be taken into account.
Fully agree with the points made by Morello.

[Hippy]

I have a suspicion that Tony Blair would whiz back from his hols and we would be there at the forefront with the food, water and diggers to put it all right again if there were oil under the ground or we had a whacking big arms deal going with these countries.

 

I agre with Morello, the Government pledges are tiny and the rich do not stay that way by giving money away. Nothing will bring back the dead ones, but I think we who have relatively well off lives should all help, and that includes our money in the form of taxes collected on our behalf by our elected representatives.

.

[The Tiggster]

Bill Gates pledged �1.5m - is he not the richest man in the world? He probably makes that an hour so when you weigh it up it's nothing major to him. I don't earn much & I gave all of the money I was going to spend on myself in the sales. Come on everybody do the same, do you really need another pair of dress boots?

[Clanad]

I think your anti-American pique is showing.  Last year (2004) the US provided $24 billion (with a b) in international aid.  This was 40% of all the aid provided by the world's governments.  President Bush has repeatedly stated that the $30 million only represents a starting point in relief aid.  In addition, an aircraft carrier, destroyer and other US Navy ships have been dispatched along with their crews, helicopters and medical facilities.  The privately funded US charities are gearing up to meet this daunting challenge... let's wait and see what the final outcome is.  Not unlike the rebuilding of England and the entire European continent following the Second World War... primarily by the US. Perhaps you really need to examine your predjudices and ill-founded conspiracy theories...

[Philtaz]

Yes, I too was apalled and embarrassed at the paltry sum initially donated by the Government.  Some CEO's and Chairman get a similar figure as a golden handshake FFS!

As usual the great British public realised the scale of things, donating �26.5 million(and rising almost hourly) within days, dwarfing the �15 million given by the Government.

This has now been increased to �50 million but further donations will be needed.

And yes, let's see the rich 'I really love this planet' stars and footballers who percieve themselves as almost god-like dig deep and donate a lot of money, most of which they'll never be able to spend within their lifetime.

I mean, how much could be raised if every Premiership footballer gave up just one weeks wages?

[ursula62]

Sorry guys, but I find this all terribly sad.

 

Do you really think that the best way to get people to donate (time, money etc) is by belittling people in public life? How does celebrity bashing help the dead and homeless in Asia?

 

If we spent as much energy on organising relief as we do in celebrity bashing, just think how much more could be achieved.

[smudge]

I always thought we were supposed to be bossom buddies with America, that is until I read the differing sums being donated to this sad case:

UK �50m

US �18m

 

Doesn't add up does it?

[smudge]

*cause (not case)

[smudge]

America's pledge has since been increased.