Letter: Help Abroad Should Not Be to the Detriment of Those Here

Published on: 2 May, 2024
Updated on: 2 May, 2024

Martin Giles interviewing Jeremy Hunt MP

From: Anthony Mallard

In response to: Jeremy Hunt Admits He Is Not Confident of Winning at the Next General Election

Am I alone in believing that people pay taxes predominately in the hope of benefiting and, if possible, improving the standards of those who live in the UK?

We have homelessness, people in work increasingly having to use food banks, an NHS with huge waiting lists and a police service that is failing us.

Children’s services and many other county and local services are underfunded and many councils are on the verge of bankruptcy. I could go on.

We now learn that the government wants to cut benefits to the poorest and sickest individuals.

But wait! While I appreciate it is not politically correct to remark, this government apparently has billions of spare money to give away around the world on largesse and wasteful and often corruptly managed projects.

I wholeheartedly support playing our part in humanitarian aid where evidence proves a real need that can’t be met by that country’s government, but surely, our Government must look more wisely in times of UK economic pressure to ensure that in improving the standards of those abroad, it is not undertaken, as it appears to be at present, to the detriment of people who live and work in the UK.

Responses to Letter: Help Abroad Should Not Be to the Detriment of Those Here

Olly Azad Reply

May 2, 2024 at 10:30 pm

I certainly don’t think that a statement of this nature is emanating from some “lone wolf”, in fact, many decent people around the country would tend agree with you that urgent steps need to be taken across the board. To find that taxpayers in the past have paid out handsomely on various projects in China and India who both ironically enjoy a far greater and higher GDP (gross domestic product) than the UK is frankly absurd and poor judgement by the government.

Listening recently to Jeremy Hunt (Chancellor of the Exchequer) being interviewed by Martin Giles sounded to me as if he had an obligation first and foremost to countries like Rwanda, Afghanistan and Ukraine. With this level of commitment and endeavour shown to the rest of the world maybe the same rules could be applied to the people of this country when Mr Hunt next decides to “dish the dosh.”
David Roberts Reply

May 3, 2024 at 3:53 pm

Messrs Mallard and Azad have missed the point. We live in a globalised world where borders cannot be sealed. If Britain does not use money and influence to solve problems like conflict, famine, inequality, crime and poverty at source, those problems will soon fetch up on our own shores, as is clearly happening with the small boats issue.

Of course, “help to those abroad should not be to the detriment of those here”. But overseas humanitarian and development aid, like defence and diplomatic spending, plays a key role in preventing higher costs being incurred at home. The choice is not binary and there is no reason to think overseas aid must necessarily be any more wasteful than a lot of domestic spending, such as PPE contracts, or “stable-door” policies such as the Rwanda deportation scheme.

To put this in perspective, China’s per capita GDP is about $12,000 per year. India’s is $2,000. The UK’s is $46,000.