NOW YOU CAN END THE MADNESS – BY SIGNING OFFICIAL PETITION THAT FORCES MPS TO ACT
100,000 names to get Commons debate Follow this guide to get YOUR voice heard
TODAY The Mail on Sunday is giving you the chance to have YOUR voice heard on our vast foreign aid spending, with an official online Government petition that will force a Commons debate… but only if at least 100,000 sign it.
In this panel, we explain the simple steps. And the reason for joining our campaign couldn’t be more compelling.
This Government talks of austerity, tries cutting benefits for disabled people and struggles to fund British schools and hospitals. But we are spending an astonishing £12billion in foreign aid abroad – and this will swell to a staggering £16billion by the next Election in 2020.
Regardless of needs at home, these vast sums will keep soaring as the British economy grows – because of a new legislative commitment to hand over a fixed 0.7 per cent of national income.
As The Mail on Sunday shows so alarmingly today, much of this money is wasted. The great British giveaway fuels corruption, funds despots and corrodes democracy in developing nations while fat cats get even plumper off the backs of the poor.
Now you can make a difference on this vital issue. The Government’s e-petition website is designed to give the public more influence on parliament. The Mail on Sunday has now opened a petition on this website calling for the 0.7 fixed rate to be scrapped. We don’t want a set amount of money spent each year regardless of need, we want to see money spent on worthy causes.
If our petition gets 10,000 signatures the Government must respond. Already 184 petitions have achieved this on subjects ranging from saving steelmaking in Scunthorpe to better protection for hedgehogs.
And if our petition gets 100,000 signatures, it must be considered for a full debate in parliament. Not all are accepted, but most are. So if you share our concerns over this relentless focus on a flawed aid target, please sign our petition – and make a difference. It couldn’t be simpler to do…
1 First you should go to mailonsunday.co.uk/ foreignaid on your computer or smartphone. If you haven’t got one, you can use the computer at your local library or an internet cafe.
2 This page will direct you to our petition set up on the Government’s official online petition website.
3 You will be asked to confirm you are a UK resident or citizen, and for your name and postcode. Don’t worry – any personal information is for verification, not for passing on or for publication.
4 You can tell friends, family or colleagues to join in with the campaign – and you can keep an eye on the magic number by signing back in to our page or the petition page, where a tally will be shown.