Ministers told to get a grip on aid as we still send £47m handout to China

MINISTERS have been told to get a grip on foreign aid spending as tens of millions of pounds are still going to China – despite a promise eight years ago to stop sending cash to the world’s second largest economy.

Tory MP Pauline Latham, who sits on the Commons international development committee, said yesterday it makes no sense to spend almost £47million of the aid budget there each year.

The Department for International Development stopped its aid programme to China in 011 but latest figures show other departments sent £46.9million in aid to China in 016 – a rise of £ .6million on the previous year.

At a hearing in Parliament yesterday, Mrs Latham questioned business minister Sam Gyimah on why so much money is going to a country that has its own aid programme dishing out cash to poorer countries.

She said: ‘I really don’t understand why we are doing so much spending in China.

‘They are a hugely fast-moving country, building cities and airports like there is no tomorrow. Why are we spending £46.9million?’

Mr Gyimah replied: ‘In China we have 6 per cent of the world’s poorest people living there. We are looking at the underlying drivers of poverty.

‘Working together with some of these countries is actually providing a good environment in which to test new solutions. This is slightly different to directly handing out aid to China.’

But Mrs Latham said: ‘I don’t understand why Britain is spending this. They have their own aid programme, why can they not look after their own?’

Britain is the only major economy to hit the international target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid.