Forum Topic

Foreign Aid 14 BILLION UK budget , Met Police 8.6 Billion

The Uk owes 127 TRILLION , paying interest on this debt of over 50 Billion plus per annum ,that’s with austerity. If I went to my bank manager earning 30,000 pounds pa and owed the bank 200,000 , and asked my bank manager for a further 10, 000 pounds for foreign charity he would section me ! Why can’t the govt act like a business ? Why can’t the people who moan about austerity admit that foreign aid should be cut ? Foreign aid cannot be checked and we all know dictators  take the most , and stupid grants like 5m pounds for Ethiopian Spice girls are wasted on the rest ! This 13.8 Billion could stop knife crime , build schools and help the NHS.or reduce our debt and interest !

Dennis Brogan ● 2474d27 Comments

Apparently this group that Dennis makes such a fuss about was raising awareness about early marriage, education for girls etc.https://en.unesco.org/news/yegna-girl-band-harnessing-power-creativity-social-change

Philippa Bond ● 2464d

So why when I asked them under FOIA for that info on Nigeria they would not tell me? I smell something rotten in the state of foreign aid.

Graham Weeks ● 2468d

We don't give any money to India, but when we did, look what it was for...https://dfidnews.blog.gov.uk/2018/12/27/uk-aid-to-india-uk-no-longer-gives-any-money-to-indian-government/

Paul James ● 2468d

I think foreign aid from a government is often for influence not from charity and the  coverse with trade - keep them sweet so we can sell them our goods e.g. arms to Saudi Arabia. Aid or trade - both about making friends and keeping them.

Graham Weeks ● 2471d

I fully concur.Some of the larger charities 'absorb' a ludicrous percentage in management and administration costs.One major charity I USED to support takes 36% in management costs, its directly comparable USA counterpart takes under 9%.

N V Brooks ● 2471d

Yes, Dennis' short-sighted - and I agree with Nigel's comments - posts exasperate me.There was a brilliant DFID (Department for International Development) report from Cate Turton in Mozambique which has suffered its second cyclone in just over a month that you can listen to again:https://twitter.com/BBCWomansHour/status/1122793422023274496

Philippa Bond ● 2471d

My donations to UK charities tend to go to smaller local operations with more volunteers, and hopefully not senior management on 6 figure salaries like some. The expectation being that a bigger percentage of donations works effectively for the beneficiaries.But given the huge sums involved I am not sure this would scale up for overseas aid and I don't think there is an easy answer to large sums being drained off in the process.

Philip Coe ● 2471d

We should be proud of being one of only six developed nations (and one of only two 'major economies) that donates 0.7% or more of GDP.We must though ensure that it is targetted to reach those in real need.Almost £100M to India (who have a space programme and an economy that is the third fastest growing in the world) cannot be right.Holding that back alone would enable us to respond with far greater 'generosity' and more effectively to real humanitarian need.

N V Brooks ● 2471d

Much of this is a generalised argument against misdirected aid rather than the aid programme itself. The UK Government's funding will be subject to a rigorous audit and ongoing monitoring. It is not the case that it is a simple wealth transfer to foreign despots. There are failures but there are far more successes.

Andy Jones ● 2471d

Ruddy American spell-check.Cheque not check!

N V Brooks ● 2471d

We are, of course, deluded if we think that a few million will garner any 'influence' with a corrupt regime. They are probably milking us along with countless other nations and gleefully rubbing their hands at the prospect of the next large check while their people starve.You don't have to look very far to see the proliferation of 'offshore owned' properties.I have found the Private Eye web-link that lists properties owned by tax-haven companies.http://www.private-eye.co.uk/registryRead it and weep at how broken our property market and the regulatory regime is.

N V Brooks ● 2471d

Interesting point about 'no longer providing a safe haven within our financial institutions and our property market for the proceeds of their corruption'Sadly it's not limited to Nigerian dirty money. Where have the Russians and the Mafia been laundering vast quantities of cash over the years? Why, London's very own property market.What we are still suffering with in terms of our African involvement is the post-colonial hangover. There's a certain element of feeling responsibility towards countries once directly ruled from London, while also an element of continued influence through aid policies. For all the years that this aid has been handed out, it doesn't seem to have improved the lot of the average African one jot.What we have seen is a succession of despots and dictators fleecing their countries before making off with the loot. It will continue because it's human nature, but as said, the whole idea of aid needs a massive rethink to ensure it goes where it's needed and not to Swiss bank accounts owned by whoever is in charge at the moment.

Simon Hayes ● 2471d

You can blather on all you like about the rightly or wrongly perceived racist content of the op, but the central point of it is germane.Even Nelson Mandela opined that most aid given to Africa is making the rich richer and the poor more dependent. I agree we should give aid, but the whole shooting match needs a massive rethink.

Keith Iddon ● 2471d

I totally agree. Corruption and inefficiency are the hallmarks of Nigeria. It is the land of the greasy palm.

Graham Weeks ● 2472d

Nigeria is awash with oil and other natural resources and does not need a penny in aid.What it does need is a root and branch change in regime to oust the corrupt families who have extracted billions of dollars from their economy.Nigeria is ranked as the 144th (of 180) most corrupt nation in the world.  The lower the rank - the more corrupt.We do not need to send them a penny but we could really help by no longer providing a safe haven within our financial institutions and our property market for the proceeds of their corruption.

N V Brooks ● 2472d

It has been called a tax on our poor to help the rich overseas and I have seen money water on big agricultural projects in Nigeria which provided no real employment only expensive equipment which was left to rust when it broke down. By contrast a charity with minimal resources gave poor farmers loans to buy oxen and ploughs or day old chicks. This really did help real communities.  I asked under FOIA to be told how our aid was spent in Nigeria. It is secret and will not be disclosed. Why?

Graham Weeks ● 2472d

Sadly Gordon, Mr. Brogan has 'form' in couching many of his posts with  a distinctly racist overtone hence my comment.I apologise, as I should have made that clear.We are committed to spending 0.7% of GDP on overseas aid.We simply need to ensure that it does not end up inn the pockets of dictators or corrupt regimes.I have direct experience of aid going to Ghana and Senegal and only a fraction of the money sent actually ended up being spent on the designated projects with much going in 'administration' fees.

N V Brooks ● 2473d

We are part of a bigger world over which we no longer have the influence that we once had.  We are also no longer the great industrial leader that we once were - or thought we were (we should embrace low tech answers to reducing electricity use like building to use less energy - something we can only still see in the "undeveloped world").  We don't have all the answers but what we have learnt is that with a little help we can inspire a lot of people to help themselves to improve their own living conditions and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.  We've learnt that with better healthcare our healthy babies will live longer and we can care for them and ourselves better If we don't increase our family size by having a baby every year as our Victorian grandparents and great-grandparents did.We have also learnt that life is better when we have friends and help each other instead of only looking after just our own interests as we can't control everything ourselves as much as we may try to or think we can.  Families can live far apart but strong communities make a difference.  We have to embrace changes in the way we live  as technology changes our lives and the jobs we learnt change or no longer exist.

Philippa Bond ● 2473d

Do you mean, 'deficit', Philippa? The deficit has been falling since 2010 while the debt continues to rise. People tend to mix the two up.

Susan Kelly ● 2473d

The whole point of austerity is to reduce the deficit and it is a fantasy to pretend that governments have another option. Dennis might be wrong on the big numbers but our debt burden is massive and our future liabilities in terms of pensions and spending we need to make on the NHS means that government expenditure is set to rise rapidly in these areas making it unavoidable that other parts of the budget need to be cut. In these circumstances it is perfectly legitimate to query the size of the aid budget and ridiculous to accuse anyone who does so of 'thinly veiled racism'. My own view it is that it should be maintained as cutting it may prove to be a false economy. Much of it is thinly disguised state aid to British companies, it plays an important role in diplomatic matters and enhances our reputation on the international stage (something which has been very battered recently). To cut it would represent us taking a step back from being a first world country.

Gordon Southwell ● 2473d

Austerity has increased the deficit.https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/04/government-has-cut-more-poor-labour-councils-rich-tory-ones-and-it-shows

Philippa Bond ● 2473d

Who are you supporting Dennis?  Self-serving hedge fund companies making money out of other people's misery?The charity above lends a small amount of money to women eg £50 to a woman who inspires you will provide her first loan and business training.All the places for the MicroLoan Foundation runners in the London Marathon have been secured.

Philippa Bond ● 2473d

Foreign Aid spent for political gain rather than benefiting the target community is always dodgy. Real aid hitting places in need to build sustainability is important. But some aid is just for political influence.

Peter Chadburn ● 2473d

Blimey, let's not let accuracy get in the way of (yet) another thinly veiled racist post shall we?The Met Police Annual budget is £3.24 billion(sources Mayor's office and Met Police website).The UK National Debt was, at the end of 2017 £1786.1 Billion(source Office of National Statistics (ONS)).We need to maintain foreign aid and yes, it needs far better monitoring*** but to allude that it is all wasted is patently absurd.***£49 million to promote cleaner energy initiatives given to China - the world's second largest economy and serial polluters/ climate deniers (source ONS) is, however, madness.

N V Brooks ● 2473d

Foreign aid is important. We can't isolate ourselves from the world and we have neighbors and countries we have historic ties with. This argument that it should be cancelled is nonsense and would be self defeating.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aid

Paul James ● 2473d

It was £1.78 trillion last year - quite a jump...

Maggie Anderson ● 2474d

£127 trillion (£127,000,000,000,000) debt.  That represents nearly £3 million for every person in the country. Surely not?

Philip Coe ● 2474d