‘Cashpoint in sky’ crashlands at last

THE Government is reported to be considering suspending the triple lock on pensions… but have ministers checked with Marcus Rashford?

Write to me c/o Daily Star Sunday, One Canada Square, London E14 5AP

DAME Vera

Lynn was a symbol of a generation we shall never be able to replace.

Her long career was never tarnished with an inappropriate deed, word or gesture. Compare and contrast that with today’s celebrities, who gain fame because they spend the summer trapped on an island with a group of grotesque, sexcrazed wannabes.

Dare I mention one word: Statue?

IT was one of the most memorable radio moments I’ve ever heard, let alone been a part of.

We had finally lured Prime Minister David Cameron into the LBC studio for an interview.

He had been a regular guest as Leader of the Opposition and having him take calls was a big coup.

The storm over our foreign aid budget had really started to bubble, not least as Cameron, inset, and his government had taken over a nation that was “broke”.

Remember the note left by Labour saying “There is no money”? As a result, “austerity measures” were being ushered in.

The PM rebuffed my questions about aid by saying Britain had made a promise and he believed we were a nation that kept its promises.

Then, the first caller – a woman from Birmingham – simply asked: “Prime Minister, you’ve told Nick he’s wrong about spending the foreign aid budget on the NHS instead.

“Fine, then please can you tell my children, who are listening, why their mother is likely to be dead before Christmas because the NHS in my area cannot afford my level of cancer treatment?”

His answer was compassionate and, I’ve no doubt, heartfelt. But that exchange came back to me when I heard Cameron’s reaction to news Boris Johnson had folded the Department of International Development with its £14billion budget into the Foreign Office.

Likening ludicrous aid spending to a “cashpoint in the sky”, Johnson pointed out: “We give 10 times as much aid to Tanzania as we do to the six countries of the Western Balkans, who are acutely vulnerable to Russian meddling.”

Makes perfect sense, but it prompted Cameron to warn it would damage the standing of the UK.

Both of his predecessors, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, weighed in too. But let’s face it, anything this trio is opposed to probably has much to commend it.

Look at where some of our cash goes – for example on a £285million airport on St Helena which stood idle for years as landings were impossible due to “wind shear”.

For eight long years I have campaigned against this insulting use of taxpayer funds.

I’ve been invited on to – and pilloried on – a series of TV debates. But last week, it was all worth it. Ask yourself this as we look set to enter the deepest depression in three centuries: Would you really feed and care for next door’s children before you did your own?