National News Foreign Aid Reduced

Peterdev

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I see the government has reduced the aid from 0.7% to 0..5%...saving around £10billion.
Baroness Sugg has resigned and several Conservative MPs against the measures.
Sunak in his defence says that the government have to take tough measures. £10 billion seems a drop in the ocean compared to their £2trillion deficit they currently have
 
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I see the government has reduced the aid from 0.7% to 0..5%...saving around £10billion.
Baroness Sugg has resigned and several Conservative MPs against the measures.
Sunak in his defence says that the government have to take tough measures. £10 billion seems a drop in the ocean compared to their £2trillion deficit they currently have
£4bn cut not £10bn.

so £16bn over the next 4 years, less than the extra £22bn over 4 years military spending announced...pandering to base.

desperately avoiding the tax increase eventuality.
 
I haven't read Private Eye for several years, but they were always on about how some "foreign aid" was actually paid to businesses run from outside of the countries it was supposed to be benefitting, pretty much how the PPE scandal is working at the moment, with someone making a pretty profit on the back of it.

So some friend of a politician ends up making a mint building a runway on St Helena which counts as "foreign aid".
 
£4bn cut not £10bn.

so £16bn over the next 4 years, less than the extra £22bn over 4 years military spending announced...pandering to base.

desperately avoiding the tax increase eventuality.
Even less of a drop in the ocean
 
I'll say it again - HS2

Loads may have already been spent, but that doesnt mean that the rest of the £30bn...er...£59bn....er£90bn....£130bn.....er...<..insert your own rocketing value here > has to be --
-- surely, if there is ever a 'get out' option to drop this monumental white elephant (which COVID has ironically shown to be even less necessary than we thought) , then it is repaying the COVID borrowing......
 
I haven't read Private Eye for several years, but they were always on about how some "foreign aid" was actually paid to businesses run from outside of the countries it was supposed to be benefitting, pretty much how the PPE scandal is working at the moment, with someone making a pretty profit on the back of it.

So some friend of a politician ends up making a mint building a runway on St Helena which counts as "foreign aid".

The airport baggage conveyor belt was delivered from England before the ground wan broken to begin building. The supplier has a lucrative maintenance contract.

The heavy machinery that built the airport come from the UK, as will the parts, servicing and repair services. Due to the size of the island, UK companies hove a monopoly on large machinery on the island.

In healthcare, Foreign Aid helps to train our nurses, and gives are pharmaceutical industries a huge advantage in developing markets. Provide an MRI machine, and the user pays the ongoing maintenance contract.

Britain profits for Foreign Aid, yet so many think it deprives them...

Aid is used to ensure girls receive an education. It also pays for vaccination... Would anyone disagree that a global vaccination program might be important given are interconnected world?
 
£4bn cut not £10bn.

so £16bn over the next 4 years, less than the extra £22bn over 4 years military spending announced...pandering to base.

desperately avoiding the tax increase eventuality.
The £22bn increase in military spending seems to me like an investment in State jobs to cushion the blow we are about to see in the private sector.

"Pandering to base" or "publicaly popular"? I think the majority want to see less money funneled away into corrupt and/or developed countries. And it is "our" money, at the end of the day.
 
The £22bn increase in military spending seems to me like an investment in State jobs to cushion the blow we are about to see in the private sector.

"Pandering to base" or "publicaly popular"? I think the majority want to see less money funneled away into corrupt and/or developed countries. And it is "our" money, at the end of the day.
as said in the post above yours, much foreign aid also does support British jobs.
military spend goes to tender, and doesn't always favour British suppliers.
 
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There is far more money goes in "other ways" than direct Foreign Aid.
We are still a world leading Country for Foreign Aid, 3rd in the G20 behind the USA and Germany and we spend more than anyone in the G7.

It`s a "headline" snatch for the more intellectually challenged.

I would agree with scrapping HS2 but then the money already spent would be deemed "wasted" ... it should have been canned in 2009 under Labour...
 
The £22bn increase in military spending seems to me like an investment in State jobs to cushion the blow we are about to see in the private sector.

Minimal I would guess. A lot of military research is outsourced.

Which does of course help with the latter.
 
I can't think of a less efficient way of spending money to prop up the economy that giving it to the military.

Many years ago I was involved in software/hardware project for the military (working for a civilian contractor). The main aim of the civilian contractor(s) seemed to be to suck as much money out of the project as possible and that of the military people to stay in the relatively cushy world of the project as long as possible to avoid being shipped off to the a**e end of nowhere. I left after 18 months having achieved the square root of nothing because I was so fed up - despite being well paid (although one of the lowest rungs in the ladder) - others stayed for *years* longer. The project was finally canned - never finished, despite the Govt spending what must have been many many millions on it. Can't say much more (I am sure I signed things!) but believe me, there are better ways to invest any money the country has.
 
The £22bn increase in military spending seems to me like an investment in State jobs to cushion the blow we are about to see in the private sector.

"Pandering to base" or "publicaly popular"? I think the majority want to see less money funneled away into corrupt and/or developed countries. And it is "our" money, at the end of the day.

In 2017, the UK imported £952,000,000 worth of arms.

Each F-35 fighter aircraft that we buy from the American company, Lockheed Martin, cost US$115,000,000.

£22bn doesn't go far in military spending - except that a lot of it goes to overseas companies - or tax havens...

The profits BAE Systems makes from UK Government procurement goes to their shareholders from all over the world... 55% of the shares are held overseas.


This increase in military spending will benefit the wealthy all over the world, and do very little to resolve any problems - homelessness, access to education and healthcare, etc, nor will it provide a cure for cancer.
 
In 2017, the UK imported £952,000,000 worth of arms.

Each F-35 fighter aircraft that we buy from the American company, Lockheed Martin, cost US$115,000,000.

£22bn doesn't go far in military spending - except that a lot of it goes to overseas companies - or tax havens...

The profits BAE Systems makes from UK Government procurement goes to their shareholders from all over the world... 55% of the shares are held overseas.


This increase in military spending will benefit the wealthy all over the world, and do very little to resolve any problems - homelessness, access to education and healthcare, etc, nor will it provide a cure for cancer.
Well BAE is a huge UK employer and operates in spaces where jobs are needed. So actually govt contracts help to keep those jobs afloat. It will also help to protect jobs at our few UK shipbuilding businesses in Southampton, Birkenhead and up in Scotland.

You say 22bn won't go far but even for the "big ticket items" you've quoted it seems to me it does go a long way.

Is your argument that we should only invest in projects which directly tackle homelessness, education and cancer research??
 
Well BAE is a huge UK employer and operates in spaces where jobs are needed. So actually govt contracts help to keep those jobs afloat. It will also help to protect jobs at our few UK shipbuilding businesses in Southampton, Birkenhead and up in Scotland.

You say 22bn won't go far but even for the "big ticket items" you've quoted it seems to me it does go a long way.

Is your argument that we should only invest in projects which directly tackle homelessness, education and cancer research??

BAE Systems reported a profit of £896 million for the half year to 30 June, 2019. This means that close to a billion pounds was of benefit to foreign investors.

This is 10% of the figure of foreign aid, but as explained above, significant amounts of foreign aid benefit the UK. Spending money on education, healthcare and infrastructure does seem to be a much more progressive way of investing money, rather than making bombs and missiles...
 
Spending money on education, healthcare and infrastructure does seem to be a much more progressive way of investing money, rather than making bombs and missiles...
Especially bombs and missiles that seems to get sold to all sorts of dodgy regimes, either directly or through middle men. With the current health crisis and it's effect on our society there *must* be better things to spend money on?
 
Well BAE is a huge UK employer and operates in spaces where jobs are needed. So actually govt contracts help to keep those jobs afloat. It will also help to protect jobs at our few UK shipbuilding businesses in Southampton, Birkenhead and up in Scotland.

You say 22bn won't go far but even for the "big ticket items" you've quoted it seems to me it does go a long way.

Is your argument that we should only invest in projects which directly tackle homelessness, education and cancer research??

Technically there is shipbuilding in Barrow as well with the Submarines. I have a vague memory they contributed a tiny bit to the aircraft carrier project as well but could be wrong.
 
It amazes me that those who say we should stop Foreign Aid and should 'look after our own' also tend to be the same people who are against Marcus Rashford's plea to give free school meals to underprivileged British children.
 
It amazes me that those who say we should stop Foreign Aid and should 'look after our own' also tend to be the same people who are against Marcus Rashford's plea to give free school meals to underprivileged British children.
It's almost like people don't want their tax money spent on projects and initiatives that don't effectively manage the problems this country is facing 😯

Also I've not seem many people talking about stopping foreign aid. The discussion seems to be about stopping unecessary foreign aid i.e. to China (who, by the way, were collecting samples of rock from the moon yesterday under a multi billion dollar research project).

I also didn't see anyone flat out opposing Rashford - just trying to ensure that meals would be made available to those who actually need them.

It couldn't be that you are being a bit dramatic to make a point, could it?

(Before you accuse me of anything, I don't care what Rashford does or who gets free school meals. I also don't oppose foreign aid)
 
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