Using a scandal to cut back aid
Yes, Oxfam’s Roland van Hauwermeiren is a despicable scumbag for using prostitutes in Haiti after its terrible earthquake.
And Haitian President Jovenel Moise is bang on when he says there is “nothing more outrageous and dishonest” than sexual predators using their power to control others at the time of their greatest vulnerability.
Yes, Oxfam should hang its head in shame and it is good deputy chief executive Penny Lawrence has resigned for hushing up the scandal.
But there is something despicable too about those who are using this terrible scandal to smear foreign aid generally.
Perhaps we do spend too much abroad, perhaps we don’t always spend it wisely – they are debates worth having.
But to use the perversions of a handful of men to undermine work which saves thousands of lives around the globe feels pretty repugnant to me.