Cameron and Blair warn against cutting foreign aid.
Former prime ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair have warned against plans to cut the overseas aid budget, calling the idea a “strategic mistake”.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is widely expected to pare back the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid to 0.5% in next week’s spending review.
Cameron oversaw the country meeting the 0.7% target for the first time in 2013, and he and Blair have joined a list of those urging a rethink of the plans.
These are people who are more than happy to steal from poor people in this country and give it to rich people in another. Because presumably it makes them look philanthropic. Never mind that it fuels corruption and the aid frequently fails to reach those in need.
If they had any intellectual honesty at all, they would be advocating for the removal of trade tariffs and allowing third world countries to trade freely with us, thereby allowing the market to increase wealth, not by giving handouts that fuel even more dependency.
Let’s be clear here, the foreign aid budget should be zero. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Bugger all and then some.
How easy it is to look generous and philanthropic by handing out other people’s money.
Hence why I utterly despise them.
How would removal of trade tariffs help? That would just damage the UK Plc tariff income.
Better to help some of the population, than none of the population. Regardless of corruption in a other countries, giving 0.5% of my tax back to the government to spunk on their own duck houses is ludicrous.
Dear Mr Decosta
“UK Plc tariff income” is paid by UK consumers. Government is always in agreement with the idea of taxing people, preferably until the pips squeak, which is, I think, just because they like the sound.
DP
Not sure I follow you’re point? UK PLC want their tax from somewhere. I’d rather it comes from trade tariffs to foreign countries than from my pocket. If that means spending foreign aid on getting those sales, then so be it.
The alternative is to drop tariffs for countries and then they become import / export proxy hubs for every country that wants our services / goods but doesn’t want to pay UK tariffs.
Moving the tax point doesn’t solve the problem, it just whacks the mole into a different hole.
Mr Decosta
Foreign don’t pay the import tariff, you pay from your pocket when you buy the import
Wake up
Please explain to me what I’d need to buy from a third world country that requires aid handouts from the UK? Apart from cheap labour I guess?
Or why I wouldn’t source those products through a third party country with a lower import tariff from the source country?
You really don’t understand it, do you. Tariff are paid by us, not third world producers. Tariffs reduce the access to the market by those countries where tariffs are applied. Tariffs are a distortion on the market. If third world countries are able to trade tariff free, they can sell their produce for a decent price on the open market and thereby improve wealth in that country. Instead of having money stolen from you by our government and given to the government in that country, you will be buying goods from the producers. There is a fair exchange. Tariffs are inherently immoral.
100% agree. While we’re at it ban Gov/public-sector donations and revoke Brown’s Gift Aid too both force all taxpayers to fund a charity/cause
Yup, me too. If people want to give money to poor countries, there’s hundreds of charities that claim to do that.
Nobody is forced to pay Gift Aid. If fact you explicitly opt in to it when making a donation.
When you give money to a charity, normally you give from income that you have paid tax on. That tax goes to keep country running.
When you donate under a gift aid scheme the taxpayer also gives to the charity the tax that you have paid on that portion of your income.
Taken to the extreme, if you could afford to donate all of your income to a Gift Aid scheme your fellow taxpayers will pay all your tax to the charity. They have no choice. Then the remaining taxpayers have to pay a bit more to keep the country running.
The remaining taxpayers have no choice, unless the government decides to reduce some service that it provides. Which we all know is impossible because al government provided services are cut to the bone.
Well… Actually (I’m taking you literally here) if you let me loose at the treasury, I could save over £50Bn without touching a single front line service. But you knew that already…
I don’t have a lot of love, or even like, for China at the moment, but their foreign aid policy is one that this country should look. China doesn’t seend money. It sends engineers, builders, and supplies. This not only means the aid ends up where it is needed, and the manpower provides employment for Chinese citizens. In return, China gets minerals and similar for their projects back home. They may have to give bribes to local despots or warlords, but nothing like the billions of UK taxpayers money so tyrants can buy palaces or luxuries while the general population does without. This country should stop all aid, and then start again, with each project assessed.
All foreign aid should stopped immediately.
But .. But… who is going to finance India’s space program, China’s too and all those poor despots that don’t know where their next Lear Jet and half dozen Rolls Royces are coming from?
Have a heart, you selfish bar stewards.
Decosta
Are you being deliberately stupid? HMRC/RM will not release the import to you until Import tariff, duty & VAT paid by you, not seller
Order 200 cigs from Albania or Portugal and see what happens
Trolling, I’m afraid.
Blair is bound to say this stuff. You don’t have to look very far into how his little piggy nose makes money these days to see why.