Are you for or against foriegn aid

Victims of catastrophes
Every year floods, droughts, earthquakes and other natural disasters as well as armed conflicts cause widespread destruction and force families to abandon their homes and farms. Victims of catastrophes are often faced with the threat not just of hunger but of outright starvation.
 
Against, India and Pakistan receive aid yet they have nuclear weapons, massive armies and India has a space programme, why the hell are we giving them money?

If it boils down to essentially a bribe so we companies get contracts over there then fine, but be clear about this.
 
realBabelfish said:
i wouldnt say £12bn a year is hardly anything. of course we waste other money too but you explain to someone who is struggling to eat this month (friend of mine) that his tax is being used to pay for water features in africa....

as above post, though im ok with money going to the poorest of the poor but it does grate when money is going to countries that dont look after their own people and squander what they have

take india. can we really justify giving money to a country that can afford its own space program?

£800k in aid was spend on a water feature in morocco. other countries have had money invested in TV. lots of aid is taken by warlords in africa and used to fund wars. to me that isnt what the money is for. and if we cannot control what the money is spent on then it shouldnt go.

having had my wife rushed into hospital with suspected meningitis this week (she is ok now) its clear how badly funded our own state is. people are dying due to cuts in services and health, should that money really be going abroad? should low wage payers really be having money taken from them to give to other poor people?

i think we need to get our own houses in order before we give it all away. how many billions a year are used in foreign aid, propping up the EU, bailing out banks, lending money to banks to 'help' us yet they charge 7% upwards to borrow money that was given by the taxpayer?

i do think that in the worst recession in living memory that people should be responsible for their own charity, it shouldnt be taken from taxes. if people feel strongly that they want to help then they should be free to give to charity themselves and it be tax exempt.

sorry for the rant.
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It's not like if we cut foreign aid the money will automatically get reallocated to things you think are more valuable.

Saying that section A of our infrastructure or welfare is under-funded isn't an argument for cutting something else which is.

I'm also all for ensuring the money is spent & allocated correctly (to build infrastructure & increase independence from aid in the long term) - but again, this isn't an argument against foreign aid (just one in favour of increasing it's efficiency).

My empathy for my fellow human isn't dictated by the lines on a map he or she was born into.
 
freak2002 said:
I know this but I just cant get myself to agree to it! Saying that the money it costs me has no real effect on me.

On one side, I believe we are wasting it by sending it to other countries that waste it. Are we SURE that 100% of the money we send to some of the African countries goes to the starving? How much of it goes to Warlords/government bribes etc?

But then again the people it would be spent on here would waste it equally. Most likely would go to pay for Sky TV for benefits scroungers.
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Off course we are not sure its going to the starving, thats not what its really for! Its probably going to some new weapons system that is manufactured in the UK and keeping our defence industry growing and a small proportion of our workers in jobs.
I would be very confident in stating that the economic benefits we gain in trade deals with the countries we grant aid to far outstrip the aid itself, by many multiples. Otherwise we would not be giving it.

India imports £2.733 BILLION of UK goods last year, and ranked 4th in the world for imports to India. So dont winge about the £50mil that greases the palms!
 
elmarko said:
It's not like if we cut foreign aid the money will automatically get reallocated to things you think are more valuable.

Saying that section A of our infrastructure or welfare is under-funded isn't an argument for cutting something else which is.

I'm also all for ensuring the money is spent & allocated correctly (to build infrastructure & increase independence from aid in the long term) - but again, this isn't an argument against foreign aid (just one in favour of increasing it's efficiency).

My empathy for my fellow human isn't dictated by the lines on a map he or she was born into.
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im all for helping those worse off but im not so sure that the aid is going to the right places. i doalso think that when people here are having issues that should be sorted out first. it just seems wrong to tax people to give it abroad then when you get in trouble yourself there isnt anything in the pot for you.

if we can magically sort our own problems out (remember, the UK is teetering on the brink of total collapse and we will all suffer immensely) then we can help others. but if we bankrupt ourselves then what help can we be to anyone? will india help us out? i doubt it.

my empathy isnt limited by lines but by those i can see suffering. i would like to make sure those close to me are ok first. if the health of my wife and child is at risk then im in favour of them being helped with my tax than people over in countries like india that can blow billions a year on space programs. if indians dont want to help indians im not sure why its down to us to help them. these countries need to help themselves first.
 
tintin82 said:
Off course we are not sure its going to the starving, thats not what its really for! Its probably going to some new weapons system that is manufactured in the UK and keeping our defence industry growing and a small proportion of our workers in jobs.
I would be very confident in stating that the economic benefits we gain in trade deals with the countries we grant aid to far outstrip the aid itself, by many multiples. Otherwise we would not be giving it.

India imports £2.733 BILLION of UK goods last year, and ranked 4th in the world for imports to India. So dont winge about the £50mil that greases the palms!
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its hardly £50m. more like £0.3Bn a year.

<DEVIL'S ADVOCATE HAT ON>

also, i know they import ~£3bn but how much of that goes to our economy? how many english people are employed? do those companies actually pay tax? are they just foreign companies based here but taking their profits back abroad?

there is also the issue of many UK companies outsourcing to india which is costing us thousands of jobs a year.

from that data how do we know they arent importing £3bn of goods from a foreign owned company in the UK. this company might employ 50 people with many robots in a factor. this company might also be reducing its tax massively. and then sending its profits back abroad to say a holding company in germany. this wouldnt equate to anywhere near the £300m+ we are giving them

of course we dont know for sure. im just trying to show another side of the argument. its certainly not as black and white as you paint.
 
no real surprise another political foreign topic by diana118............

EDIT

just seen that the last topic she started was deleted as it was a carbon copy from some other website.
 
Haggisman said:
How about that £52/year get put into food banks for the starving of the UK?
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That's an upside down way to look at it putting money into food banks ? why not into paying people a living wage and taxing less at source, reducing VAT. You know the sort of things a well managed economy is supposed to offer

I am FOR, it's a drop in the ocean
 
it also seems we are giving money annually to china and russia. 2 countries that are screwing us over left, right and centre. why the hell are they getting any? its like sending the germans money in the early 1940s.

at least we should be able to force them to change some of their medieval views too. like russia and homosexuality and china and slave labour.
 
realBabelfish said:
its hardly £50m. more like £0.3Bn a year.

<DEVIL'S ADVOCATE HAT ON>

also, i know they import ~£3bn but how much of that goes to our economy? how many english people are employed? do those companies actually pay tax? are they just foreign companies based here but taking their profits back abroad?

there is also the issue of many UK companies outsourcing to india which is costing us thousands of jobs a year.

from that data how do we know they arent importing £3bn of goods from a foreign owned company in the UK. this company might employ 50 people with many robots in a factor. this company might also be reducing its tax massively. and then sending its profits back abroad to say a holding company in germany. this wouldnt equate to anywhere near the £300m+ we are giving them

of course we dont know for sure. im just trying to show another side of the argument. its certainly not as black and white as you paint.
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I totally agree with you, its not black and white at all, there are so many things going on at so many different levels that no one can really know exactly what the figures are, and how this filters down and affects Joe Bloggs on the street.
However that being said i am merely trying to point out that the purpose of our foreign aid is not for the recipients benefit, it is for our countries benefit in the long run, otherwise they would not give it.
If our government pulled the plug on all international aid tomorrow, would trade decline? Off course it would, contracts would be awarded to the next country paying a nice aid package, and jobs here would be lost. Look at China's current extremely generous aid to Africa where they spending billions building schools , roads, hospitals. Is to make the Chinese feel good about themselves, no, it’s so they can grab Africa's resources.
I know all the profits from this dont filter down the ladder to us on the street, but its a damm sight better than none at all!
 
diane118 said:
we pay in our taxes 0.7% towards foreign aid.
A person on an income of £25,000 pays £5,465 in tax, of which £52 a year would go to the overseas aid budget. That is the cost of buying a loaf of bread a week, do you begrudge the starving of the world that or not.
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I would rather I give a loaf of bread a week to those people who are living out of food banks.
 
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