Let peacekeeping count towards aid target, says Priti
PRITI Patel is set on a collision course with international aid chiefs over plans to demand that worldwide rules on overseas development are overhauled so more of the money can be spent by the military.
The International Development Secretary wants the guidelines on what can be counted towards the aid spending target relaxed to include things such as peacekeeping in countries where poverty is driven by conflict.
When he was prime minister, David Cameron passed controversial legislation that means ministers must spend 0.7 per cent of Britain’s income on overseas development.
The law states that money can be spent only according to the Overseas Development Assistance rules laid down by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Miss Patel said she will push for changes at a meeting of the OECD’s development assistance committee in October ‘to get the very best value for every pound of taxpayers’ money Britain spends on international development’.
But Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, chairman of the committee, warned that her demands are ‘not up for discussion’ because the rules were tweaked last year to allow aid to be used to support the military in fragile countries on issues that promote development.