Foreign Aid

Overheard at the butcher's.

The butcher is making lamb kebabs:

Chairman; "Are those Queen Elizabeth II kebabs you're making as a tribute?"

Butcher; "That's a good idea - I could sell them at £10 each."

Chairman; "Given the last coronation spawned Coronation Chicken, you need to focus on something for Charles III - like a Charles III kebab."

Butcher; "What would that look like, I wonder?"

Chairman; "3 heads on a stick?"

A substantial percentage of the population supports calls for Foreign Aid to be scrapped, citing India's space programme as a key shibboleth; however, they don't see Foreign Aid as a tool of influence internationally.

A 2014 ODI report showed that in 2014 every $1 of UK aid spent generated an increase in UK exports alone of $0.22 thereby providing an estimated 12,000 extra UK jobs.

Cut Foreign Aid to an area that suffers from instability and then Russia and China rush to fill the void, causing all manner of disruptions down the line, not least in the realm of trade. The UK spends $19.37Bn in aid while China spends $38Bn, slightly more than the USA - yes, China has a much larger GDP than the UK, but it's the absolute amount that counts in terms of global influence.

Russia's Foreign Aid is miniscule in proportion to its GDP; however, under Putin it has ramped up dramatically as a tool of foreign policy.

Those who call for the scrapping of Foreign Aid are usually at the forefront of shouting that charity begins at home and it should be used to home the homeless and feed the poor, but that's never happened, even when aid was cut - it simply doesn't generate votes. Our government had to be shamed into providing free school meals for the poorest kids during holidays in the lockdown.