This is an emotive subject and rightly so. The Ethiopian Spice Girls scandal or what ever etc etc.

Does anybody here know and where the actual use of the aid money is shown/listed.

I would like to have a look, my instinct ( and happy to be proved wrong ) is that a lot goes to what would be considered vanity projects for those responsible for giving it away, a significant amount on " admin costs " and corruption.

If the use of the funds is not in the public domain in some detail that is a scandal in itself.

Simply to say the money is used to help the less fortunate overseas is not good enough.

Anyway, I have tried to search and not found anything that casts any light.

Edited by HKOwen (26 Nov 2020 1.12am)

Edited by HKOwen (26 Nov 2020 1.14am)

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

Thanks, had a speed read and can't see anything that specifically refers to individual projects and what they do.

Do not see anything that would lead me to continue with this " cashpoint in the sky " in it's current forms.

I would have no objection to giving aid in the form of for example Covid vaccines but cannot support pouring cash into these projects with tangible means of monitoring results and value for money.

The high level scandals of money wasted do nothing to give any integrity to the expenditure.

Edited by HKOwen (26 Nov 2020 4.15am)

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

Yes. It is how we pay a lot of bribes. A smoke screen in effect.

Bongo-Bongo land are in the market for say 50 tanks they do not need. Us Brits step in to sell them but the Minister who signs it off wants a nice little sweetner. Of course we would never stoop so low as to just bung him an envelope but if he has a family friend with a worthy cause to support and no questions asked about how the funds are spent?

Of course it is a little more nuanced than that but essentially that is the nuts and bolts of it all.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

Nicely put.

Emergency aid for disasters, no issue. If you really care about the poor in these countries the best way to help them is to sign free trade deals that will help these people trade their way out of poverty.

Many of these countries have agricultural produce they would love to sell us but EU rules have so far stopped. I am disappointed that the FO has not been quicker to sign these deals especially in Africa.

We have a real opportunity here to help people without a cash hand out which goes in some politicians back pocket.

Get on with it Boris.

One more point

Agreed. The EU is the largest Protectionist block in the world. The people who love the EU also love foreign aid but don't connect the dots, if the EU was more open you wouldn't need the aid.

If throwing money at the third world worked I would happily support it but Africa has had billions thrown at it over 60 years and they are still no better off, time to try something new.

One more point

Interesting, but how do you explain Switzerland being third, above Germany?