Aid cash spent on paralympic athletes in the South Pacific

A NEW row broke out over the aid budget last night, after the Foreign Office revealed British taxpayers’ money has been spent on the Solomon Islands paralympic team and building links between creative industries in the UK and Peru.

The controversy came as figures released last week revealed the foreign aid bill rose £1.2 billion last year. It now stands at a record £13.3 billion. The increase – at a time when budgets at home for hospitals and schools are under intense pressure – came after an upward revision in the estimated size of the British economy.

Under a target introduced by former Prime Minister David Cameron, Ministers are committed to sending 0.7 per cent of our national income overseas every year.

Although the lion’s share is spent by the Department for International Development, 10 per cent is handled by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

According to a list released by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s department, in 2015-16 it dished out money to more than 1,500 overseas projects. These include developing the rugby skills of disadvantaged youngsters in South Africa and training for tribal chieftains in Central Africa’s Cameroon, pictured.

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell said: ‘I am sure each of these projects has its own merit, but there is just not the political support for spending these vast sums of money.

‘The problem is the rigid 0.7 per cent target. We need to abandon that target.’

An FCO spokesman said: ‘The FCO works to deliver the 2015 aid strategy to tackle global challenges in the national interest.’