Don’t allow £13bn aid spending to fall, says Corbyn
JEREMY Corbyn questioned yesterday whether the £13.4billion a year foreign aid budget is big enough.
the budget has risen repeatedly under the controversial target to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas development.
But after growth forecasts were cut, the aid budget will also be trimmed. Now Mr Corbyn has raised concerns that aid officials are not being given enough money to hand out.
in a letter to the prime Minister, the labour leader questioned a Budget announcement that the aid ministry will be told to tighten its belt for the first time in four years.
the foreign aid budget will be slashed by nearly £900million over two years as worsening economic growth forecasts mean that the UK will be able to spend less cash to meet the target.
Mr Corbyn wrote: ‘ as the oBR (office for Budget Responsibility) revised growth figures down, the UK will now be spending £895million less than expected on the intended objective of aid which is poverty reduction and tackling disease.
‘are you confident that the Department for international Development (DfiD) has the resources it needs to deliver global development?’
last night tory Mp Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘it is a strange order of priorities especially when the defence budget is being squeezed. of course Mr Corbyn does not care about that.’
Fellow tory Mp andrew Rosindell accused Mr Corbyn of being ‘totally out of touch’, adding: ‘ there is no way anyone would want to see more UK taxpayers cash spent on overseas aid. We already spend vast sums, way beyond what most other nations do.’
labour sources insisted that party policy remained to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid.
Mr Corbyn’s concerns came in a letter raising the issue of a £12million foreign aid project that has been suspended amid fears some of the money has gone to jihadis. he wrote: ‘the British public is extremely proud of our country’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on aid to reduce global poverty. Under a labour government, the UK was a world leader in aid effectiveness and global development.
‘therefore, allegations of aid money ending up in the hands of an al Qaeda affiliate and contributing to the Free syrian police’s work with a judicial system accused of numerous human rights abuses is yet another blow to Britain’s reputation on the world stage.’
small print included with the Budget last month revealed that projected foreign aid spending will be adjusted down by £375million in 2018-19 and £520million in 2019-20.
DfiD, which spends most but not all of the aid money, will have its departmental budget cut. the aid ministry has repeatedly been handed more and more cash as other Whitehall departments have been forced to make cuts.
however, treasury documents released with the Budget show that in 2019/20 its annual funding will go down from £11.9billion to £11.7billion.
at the time of the previous Budget in March, DfiD spending had been projected to go up from £12.3billion in 2018/19 to £12.6billion in 2019/20.
Ministers have been under pressure to improve how aid money is spent following theresa May’s announcement during the general election campaign that the Government would keep the controversial 0.7 per cent spending target set by David Cameron.
official figures released last month showed aid spending reached £13.4billion in 2016, up £1.3billion on the year before.
the chunk of the money funnelled through the EU rose by £ 177million to £ 1.5billion, despite warnings from priti patel when she was international development secretary about how we ‘don’t have any oversight’ over how Brussels distributed the money.
EU-run aid projects include providing juggling lessons in tanzania and promoting african dancing.
Despite pledges to stop aid to india, last year £92.6million was spent by Whitehall officials on projects there. the amount sent to China rose by £2.6million to £ 46.9million. in pakistan an income support scheme allowing families to withdraw money from a cashpoint is supported by UK foreign aid.