Time for Boris to get a grip on foreign aid

NINE years after ministers promised to end the ludicrous situation whereby Britain gifts tens of millions of pounds to India and China – the world’s two fastest-growing economies – the Mail reveals today that aid to both countries actually rose last year.

More than £55million went to China, to fund such vital projects as studying air pollution in its major cities, improving early-years teacher training and reducing the high salt content in the Chinese diet.

All noble causes, no doubt. But why on earth are we paying for them? China is an economic and military superpower, with an extensive space programme and a GDP nearly five times bigger than ours.

Why isn’t it spending some of its own vast wealth on improving teaching standards?

India may not be quite as wealthy, but it did launch a lunar probe this year at a cost of £107.8million and gave away £620million through its own foreign aid programme. So why did it need £95million of our money?

In the context of the overall foreign aid spend of £14.6billion a year, these are not huge amounts. But they are symptomatic of a broader truth. There is so much aid money swilling around that the bureaucrats can barely spend it quickly enough.

As a result, far too much goes to countries rich enough to look after themselves, into the pockets of despots or to shadowy ‘agents’ for discredited charities.

Boris Johnson promises a review of all aid spending and is rightly considering merging the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office.

But he should go further and abandon the commitment to spending a fixed 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign donations.

Aid should be spent when and where it is most effective – and in amounts determined by need, not some arbitrary, politicallycorrect target. Squandering money abroad when it could be spent on so many urgent and worthwhile causes at home brings the whole system into disrepute.