Tories’ £76m abuse cash failure
PM’s plan blasted as ‘wrong & regressive’
BORIS Johnson has been warned children will be among those killed by famine and disease as a result of his “wrong and regressive” plans to scrap our overseas aid ministry.
The Prime Minister revealed a merger of the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office in the Commons yesterday.
He justified it by telling MPs current aid spending is treated like “some giant cashpoint in the sky”.
And he claimed the existing regime, launched by Labour in 1997, means “an inherent risk of our left and right hands working independently”.
Lib Dem MP Layla
Moran accused him of politicising aid, saying:
“This is a shameless gift to the Tory right wing. Children in the world’s poorest countries will pay the price and may die as a result.”
Tory ex-PM David Cameron branded the plans “a mistake”, saying: “The end of DfID will mean less expertise,
DAVID CAMERON EX-PM
LESS than £1.5million of £76million promised to help domestic abuse victims during the coronavirus pandemic has been sent to the frontline.
Ministers announced the funding five weeks ago but the Government has admitted only a fraction has gone to charities and organisations that need it.
Labour has now written to Home Secretary Priti Patel demanding to know why only 1.6% has been allocated.
Shadow Home Secretary Nick ThomasSymonds less voice for development and ultimately less respect for the UK overseas.”
And Labour ex-PM Tony Blair said: “I am dismayed. We created DfID to [help project] British soft power… helping millions to be relieved of poverty and killer diseases. Wrong and regressive move.” The merger brings our £15billion overseas aid budget under the Foreign Secretary. But Oxfam chief Danny Sriskandarajah said: “The Foreign Office may be excellent at diplomacy but it has a patchy record of aid delivery and is not as transparent as DfID.
“This puts politics above the needs of the poorest and will mean more die unnecessarily from hunger and disease.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said the move was “a distraction” from woeful handling of the pandemic. And Lib Dem leadership hopeful Wera Hobhouse said it was “globally illiterate and morally reprehensible”.
It’s a mistake. The end of DfID will mean less expertise, less voice for development
said: “As ever with the Tories the devil is in the detail.
“When Labour called for this investment we were clear that it was needed at the front line urgently to help people whose lives were put at risk. Those at risk cannot afford to wait.”
A Government spokesman said: “The Government has prioritised those at risk of domestic abuse. We are working at pace to allocate £76million responsibly in a way that will have the most impact.”