We hand £4m in aid... to the USA!
Is this the maddest foreign aid story yet?
MILLIONS of pounds of British taxpayers’ money is being handed over to some of the world’s wealthiest countries, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In yet another example of ‘foreign aid madness’, more than £4 million has been given to the US since 2016 to help bankroll cyber security, financial services, and projects in ‘smart cities’ such as Boston.
Staggering figures unearthed by this newspaper using Freedom of Information laws show that a total of £11 million of public money went to rich nations, including several that are wealthier than Britain.
They include Japan, where the gross domestic product (GDP) is nearly twice that of the UK. The country received almost £500,000 which has helped fund projects that ‘support Tokyo’s development as a global financial centre’.
Other wealthy nations that have benefited include South Korea, where hundreds of thousands of pounds has been used to fund cyber security; Portugal, where cash was sent to assist ‘ rule of law’ projects; and New Zealand, where business i nfrastructure work was supported.
The money comes f rom t he Prosperity Fund, a Whitehall initiative set up in 2016 to hand out £1.3 billion around the world.
It has been criticised by MPs for squandering cash on wealthier countries, with money even used to fund the Chinese film industry.
The Foreign Office said last night the £11 million was part of the non- Official Development Assistance portion of the fund and was not included in the 0.7 per cent of gross national income – or £14 billion a year – that the Government is committed to spending on foreign aid.
Instead, it said the money formed part of a £33 million pot of cash, distributed by t he Prosperity Fund, to ‘improve the trade and investment environment in these countries’ and ‘promote UK and global prosperity’. However, critics accused the Government of wasting money that could be put to better use at home and questioned why such huge sums were needed to grease the wheels for British businesses abroad. Tory MP Nigel Evans, who sits on the International Development Committee, said: ‘This sounds hugely dubious.
‘This is money that could be easily spent on projects in Britain and it seems to me incredibly questionable that so much money is being used for this purpose.
‘Essentially, this money is used for soft diplomacy but why we need to spend any money in America on soft diplomacy is frankly beyond me. We have already got the best diplomatic relationship with the USA that any country could hope for, so this seems needless.
‘ Simply put, there are a lot of people around the United Kingdom who could benefit much more from that money.’ The Prosperity Fund faced heavy criticism last year when an independent watchdog rounded on its overseas development aid arm. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact complained of ‘serious risks’ about the effectiveness of the £1.3 billion to help developing countries, adding that the fund had become ‘fragmented’ and lacked transparency. The scathing report concluded there were ‘conflict of interest concerns’ and ‘significant risks’ about value for money and delivery. A separate report by the Commons International Development Committee contained similar criticisms, including that cash had been used to boost China’s movie industry, improve its museums and reduce tobacco consumption. MPs said: ‘ Given the level of spending involved, we are concerned that departments are not publishing fuller details of their spending as this lack of clarity clouds the public’s ability to see good and bad spending.’ A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: ‘ The Prosperity Fund has a non-aid component to help generate opportunities for UK businesses in both mature and emerging markets. ‘ An example of this includes a showcase event in Brazil that helped UK energy companies secure contracts worth over £50 million, and promotional activities in the US that contributed to a £56 million export win.’ He added that the FCO did not know whether Britain received funds from other countries under similar reciprocal arrangements.
‘This is money that could be spent in Britain’
Especially at this time of goodwill, this country has reason to be proud of its generosity to the poor of the world. Foreign aid, in itself, is a fine and laudable thing, but only where it is well and wisely spent.
The Mail on Sunday has used freedom of information rules to make the Foreign and Commonwealth Office disgorge details of an £11million ‘Prosperity Fund’ under which taxpayers’ money is doled out to wealthy countries such as the USA and Japan.
People do not pay their taxes for this purpose.
The programme is absurd, and should end.