Mordaunt: public ‘sceptical’ about how aid cash is spent

BRITONS are “sceptical” about how the Government and charities spend their money on aid projects, Penny Mordaunt has admitted in the wake of the sex scandal that has rocked voluntary organisations.

The International Development Secretary told the Bond conference in central London, attended by senior members of the voluntary sector, that the British people were “incredibly generous” and were “in favour of aid”.

She said: “The amount that my department gave of the taxes to the Rohingya crisis – they gave half as much again in voluntary donations.

“They believe in what we do; they are just sceptical about how we are going about doing that. I want to take a bit of a fresh approach to this and I would love the British people to be proud of everything that this sector does.”

Ms Mordaunt was speaking as nearly 200 aid organisations were yesterday disclosing to the Government any breach of child protection in the wake of the Oxfam Haiti prostitution scandal.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed on Saturday how Plan International, which attracted £6 million in UK taxpayers’ money last year, said it had found “six confirmed cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of children” in the year to June 2017. Ms Mordaunt said: “You cannot help and support people, you cannot give them hope and a chance, you cannot promote human rights or the dignity of every human being, whilst paying them for sex and whilst funding an industry that exploits them.”

Ms Mordaunt added that she would not be cowed by critics who think the UK should not spend 0.7 per cent of national income on aid. She said she would give “short shrift” to anyone who used the scandal to advance arguments against aid, saying: “I personally believe in aid. It is our moral duty towards other nations.” She added it was “good for the UK too,” as “we benefit from a peaceful and more secure world”.