AS I feared and predicted multi-millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being squandered on dubious projects under the guise of overseas aid.
Only this week, the OECD has confirmed suspicions that money is being diverted into palaces, private jets and space projects.
Worse, money aimed at worthy causes in Africa is more often than not siphoned off to tax havens like Panama.
On top of all this, we now learn that we overspent overseas aid last year to the tune of £172 million.
This when an arbitrary target of 0.7 per cent of GDP already commits us to spending a staggering £12.2 billion.
The figure us so huge that it puts us firmly in the lead among European donors and, to some, it’s a mark of civilization.
Development Secretary Justine Greening argues believes it enables us to tackle problems at source before they end up on our doorstep.
Certainly, it’s hard to argue with, for example, the £1 billion Britain’s already spent on sheltering, educating and feeding Syrian refugees displaced by the civil war.
But the point is that we should target our resources more specifically and more accountably, rather than just spraying our money around the world to meet a statutory target.
With this in mind, ‘losing’ £172 million, which is desperately needed to fund our increasingly overwhelmed hospitals and schools, or even keep Tata steel open for six months, seems more than careless.
Even former Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, a staunch advocate of overseas aid, has said this will “antagonize taxpayers”.
Meanwhile, an online petition launched last Sunday, calling for a review of foreign aid, has already raised 210,000 signatures.
With the country still facing tough financial challenges and choices, it’s not wise or fair to splurge our hard-earned money to the extent we are.