We need to cut foreign aid

2:09pm Friday 28th September 2012 in Letters

I THINK it’s disgusting the amount of foreign aid that is given and the way in which it is managed. I was not surprised to read that consultants are costing the Department for International Development £500 million a year.

In exchange for this vast sum, they manage overseas projects on our behalf and, worryingly, it appears that they are literally throwing funds at causes in order to justify their existence. This is the only department where spending has been ringfenced and is due to rise from £8 billion to £11.5 billion by 2015. How can we cut our wonderful armed forces, police forces, the NHS, lay off lollipop ladies and other essential services when vast amounts of money are wasted abroad?

It is time this country stopped this disturbing waste and catered for our own before looking abroad.

Ken Holder, Hill Street, Risca

Comments(11)

james.dyer7@ntlworld.com says...
2:15pm Fri 28 Sep 12

yes

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On the inside says...
2:37pm Fri 28 Sep 12

No

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robertce says...
3:51pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Without doubt we should cut down aid, we have been throwing money at some of these countries for god knows how long and they never seem to progress. They need to start learning to fend for themselves.

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Bobevans says...
6:46pm Fri 28 Sep 12

WE need to reduce the deficit and it is clearly daft to not at least cut Overseas aid in line with the cuts being made to the UK budgets. THe only exception I would make would be for specific disater relief activities

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A. R. Hill says...
9:16pm Fri 28 Sep 12

As has been said before:

Foreign Aid is taking money from poor people in a rich country and giving it to rich people in a poor country.

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nolongergullible says...
9:17am Sat 29 Sep 12

Aid is being given to countries like China, which has 150 or more billionaires. In other countries such as Pakistan and Barbados the people in charge of distribution have become millionaires. India has its own space programme, yet receives aid.
Half of UK aid is paid into the EU coffers. From there the UK loses control over distribution and it has been paid to countries the UK took off its own benefits list because the countries wealth had greatly increased. Despite decades of aid being paid out to the same countries, those countries are still at the bottom of the pile in terms of individual wealth.
At its most brutal, the more of the population surviving due to aid, in a country that cannot support itself, the greater the need for aid becomes. It starts to swallow itself.
I agree with need to start cutting aid and being a lot more proactive in the distribution of aid.

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chris227 says...
8:17am Sun 30 Sep 12

it really is disgusting to think taxpayers have funded the lifestyle of all these crooked dictators like robert mugabee

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Mervyn James says...
6:12pm Sun 30 Sep 12

We don't need to cut it, we need to END it all. We can't afford to give money to countries that (A) Hate us, and (B) Better of than us anyway. We gave millions to Africa, it ended up paying for private jets and Swiss bank accounts for their dictators and little or none got to the poor.

If we want to send the 3rd world anything really useful try condoms, and birth control, and sorting out those religions making it worse.. If it is not throwing odd money after bad,it is saving cats and donkeys abroad,which is stupid given British hate theirs and their kids !

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pinpong says...
11:01am Mon 1 Oct 12

I am not sure that ending aid to countries that need help is the right thing to do. We are a rich country and we should do our bit. The issue regarding dictators is one that needs to be taken up by the government. They need to monitor and assess were the aid is going.
If you really want to save millions of pounds then look at the devolution issue. Do we really need an Assembly?

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Riley2012 says...
10:14pm Mon 1 Oct 12

Our money taken of the hard working tax payer should not be given away at all, we should look after our own first end of, how come when you see sad event's of children and mother's starving, you never see any father's about ???, i agree birth control needs to be addressed first, i feel sorry for them, but what about our elderly folk, our sick waiting to be seen to, people die in the uk through lack of money, but it is ok to give our money away don't make any sense at all.

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Mervyn James says...
8:25am Tue 2 Oct 12

Cameron is trying to buy prestige for Britain by depriving its own poor people, there are growing food ques in Wales at church charities.. Feed the hungry HERE. Build homes for the homeless HERE. Give work to people who live HERE. I've heard of giving the shirt off people's backs but let Cameron give HIS shirts and his banker friends, not take ours.

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