Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[cleggy]

Can someone please explain to me why we give £millions in aid to third world countries?
We are bankrupt, public expenditure will be savegly cut yet we still line the Swiss bank accounts of the corrupt leaders of these countries, whose populace hate us, and consider us  infidels, and would willingly reap devine retribution on us.
Am I missing something?
A vote winner for me if someone will promise to stop it.

[Nickbat]

We give £10m to China every year.

"Its foreign exchange reserves are 37 times bigger than ours. It has a $400bn trade surplus, while the UK has a $100bn trade deficit. The Chinese government's budget surplus last year was $82bn."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/12/mps-clash-over-uk-aid-to-china

Yep, you're right. Something is very wrong.

[pscocoa]

The concept of Development Aid is ok for me as long as we play a proportionate part alongside other major economies but the administration and implementation of the aid system is abysmal. The biggest problem is the fact that those responsible for adimnistration of the huge sums (£6 billion in the case of UK) are clueless in business and pursue all sorts of idealistic unsustainable solutions when many business related public private partnerships aimed at trade/income generation would be workable and sustainable i.e. would continue after the aid money runs out.

As taxpayers we should not be dippping into our pockets for live aid etc etc when so much of what we have already paid is wasted.

I think about 50% of the aid budget goes in humanitarian relief and it is difficult to argue with that subject to the management issues of course. The rest needs to be used more efficently with multilateral country solutions which are monitored and eliminating all the duplication and competing between aid agencies of different countries on which there are many googleable reports - "aid effectiveness".

The China things is a nonsense and I think has been stopped.

From what I see the funds to support rural communities just do not get through to generate sustainable business and local governance. I have responded to UK Government White Papers on this but the machine carries on regardless feathering the nests of UK buraucrats and misinformed NGOs.

Funding is also targeted at peace process issues.

[Richie London]

if i had my way africa wouldnt get a penny.

[cleggy]

If I had mine nobody would. The six billion squid we waste could be put to use in our own country. It is after all our money, not some do gooder muppet of a civil servant to decide where it goes. 

[pscocoa]

Try reading this lot:


http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-DFID/Finance-and-performance/Aid-Statistics/Statistics-on-International-Development-2009/Section-3---How-much-is-UK-expenditure-on-International-Development/

[cleggy]

BLOODY HELL! Well pscocoa thank you for that it took some reading, and understanding. I still don't know why we do it, yes to help those worse off, but there are limits! I for one don't mind a bit of help for  the odd natural dissaster, but we ain't got the money to help the third world wholesale. I'd like to see accounts for the cash we provide them with!!!
Charity begins at home, and we certainly contibute to the charities that we consider worthwhile, but we have no choice with government aid 

[Banjax]

Can someone please explain to me why we give £millions in aid to third world countries?
We are bankrupt, public expenditure will be savegly cut yet we still line the Swiss bank accounts of the corrupt leaders of these countries, whose populace hate us, and consider us  infidels, and would willingly reap devine retribution on us.
Am I missing something?
A vote winner for me if someone will promise to stop it.

so..you're not Nick Clegg then Cleggy? 

[cleggy]

Banjax... HOW VERY DARE YOU
Far too right wing to sit on a fence

[Banjax]

Banjax... HOW VERY DARE YOU
Far too right wing to sit on a fence

it wouldn't help to point out that we give India billions and they've got a space programme, nuclear weapons and a state funded F1 team would it? 

[cleggy]

I thought they were all here?  .
German engine, Britist chasis, gear box and expertise!!!
Don't forget the call centres that you can't understand!

[STMO999]

It wouldn't matter to me how much we donated to foreign countries, as long as we had no NHS wating lists, no pensioners dying of hypothermia, no children in poverty.......etc.

[Richie London]

It wouldn't matter to me how much we donated to foreign countries, as long as we had no NHS wating lists, no pensioners dying of hypothermia, no children in poverty.......etc.

charity starts at home

[Richie London]

all these rich celebrities who insist we donate to charities, they have enough money to donate half theres, im sure bono wouldnt miss half a billion of his estimated 1b fortune. especially that idiot knob geldof

[PhilRich]

all these rich celebrities who insist we donate to charities, they have enough money to donate half theres, im sure bono wouldnt miss half a billion of his estimated 1b fortune. especially that thingy knob geldof

I think all foreigners should be given aid (s)