I for one have been filled with despair with Facebook posts which have the line
It's time we stop foreign Aid, for the short term, and spend it on helping our own people.Please re post if you agree.
and Labour MP Simon Danczuk made the suggestion while speaking to BBC Radio Manchester on Monday
in the aftermath of the devastation which hit his Rochdale
constituency. He said:
"Why do we spend money in Bangladesh when it needs spending in Great Britain? What we need to do is to sort out the problems which are occurring here and not focus so much on developing countries. That has to be our priority."
So I was delighted with Michael Sheen when guest editor on BBC Radio 4's Today
Programme when he used his closing speech to debate the merits of using
aid money to help victims of disasters closer to home, such as flood
victims in York and other parts of the North.
Apparently Sheen has caused a storm of controversy by
criticising calls for the foreign aid budget to be diverted to help
flood victims.
And it is absolutely true. There is terrible, terrible poverty in this country; there are terrible conditions for certain people. 'And I can understand why people get so worried about giving money to other countries, but of course 0.7 per cent of the national income goes on foreign aid.'That is about being a member of the global community, taking that responsibility seriously. 99.3 per cent of course goes on what goes on in this country.
...And the argument, the false dichotomy of pushing British people against foreigners, or shirkers against strivers, it's a false argument.
'And it allows other people who have certain interests to get away with it.'The argument needs to be, "What is our government doing for people in our own country?"'
1 comment:
Seems to me that if Britain stopped with the wars there would be enough money to spend at home. Having spent several holidays on the Continent, those who spend their money wisely and at home look so much better than here. When Germany was building up it's infrastructure with their Marshall Plan money, we were, yes you know, building an Atom Bomb. Hence old factories with old machinery. We have lousy roads, well we have here in Scotland, I doubt that Wales is much better, we Celts can stuff it apparently. Better Together, well it is beginning to sink in to our NO voters. Scotland has had nothing but rain, we have many flood alerts but seems we are fine, nobody is suffering, well we would not know if they were. AS for Foreign Aid, most of it comes back in the form of Arm Purchasing.
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