by David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
The Tories are planning a new sleight of hand over their pledge to match Labour’s commitment to increase overseas aid to 0.7 per cent of income by 2013.
If they win next year’s election, the Tories will inherit a £9.1 billion spending programme by Labour – already up to 0.56 per cent of income. When the Conservatives were defeated at the 1997 general election, they left a programme of just £2 billion a year.
David Cameron has pledged to ring fence the international development budget
as part of the new “compassionate Conservatism” agenda. However, according to the latest issue of the privately-circulated Conservative Intelligence magazine, the party is so desperate to avoid making cuts to the defence budget that it is working on a way to use money earmarked for overseas aid to boost defence spending.
Writing in the magazine, Tim Montgomerie, editor of the ConservativeHome website, says: “One never quashed rumour is that the Tories may use part of the international aid budget to pay for British troops when they are involved in peacekeeping roles or in the delivery of humanitarian relief.”
Effectively what this means is that, instead of money being expanded on improving health and schooling, or providing water, it would go on military spending.
Labour is also committed to spending extra cash above the international development budget to combat climate change. The Tories are not and may raid overseas aid to cover their spending commitments on climate change.
Some £400 million is also spent separately by the Foreign Office, Defence and International Development ministries as part of Britain’s contribution to United Nations humanitarian aid and peacekeeping. Under a Conservative government, all this might be counted as overseas aid.
On top of this, under Labour there is already a growing programme of aid to Africa. Total multilateral and bilateral aid devoted to Africa between 2004 and this year has more than doubled, fulfilling a pledge given by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at the Gleneagles G8 summit in July 2005.
The latest Ministry of Defence bulletin indicates what that money might be spent on instead. As part of Britain’s military spending in Africa, the MoD is training the army in Congo to fight the rebels. It also classes conflict with Somali pirates as a peacekeeping operation
If operations such as these are to be counted as part of Britain’s international development budget, it follows that there will be less money for education, schools and providing basic facilities like clean water.
About The Author
Thats life, and sadly it is not enough of a reason for me to vote New labour
Good maybe a bit of common sense at last. But one penny is still to much, this aid seems to me to be the modern day Danegeld and we all know how that turned out. Enough is enough.