Aid is spent on Pakistan's online banking.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....s-online-banking.html

Is this the way Britain's increasing overseas aid is spent?

/// The Coalition defended the spending, saying that more than one billion people in developing countries have a mobile but do not have a bank account. ///

I have news for them, millions of people in the UK, neither have a mobile or a bank account.

[B00]

I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't possess a mobile phone due to lack of money for one.

[Zeuhl]

The objective is to encourage economic development in these countries - there is in fact an estimated long term benefit to us in that and more immediately, UK firms and consultants are no doubt benefiting from this project and this funding.

The percentage of mobiles and bank accounts in this country is totally irrelevant to this - there is also a project to supply people in the thirld world with cows. Perhaps the OP thinks that should be stopped too because lots of Brits don't have one yet?
.

[dotty.]

I wish people who claim to be hard up would buy the idaily at 20p rather than the 50p daily mail.

[reefer]

B00 i know a couple who are out of work who do not have a mobile.

Think you will find the number of people who do not have a bank account or building society account has gone down aog. The DWP don't give out giros anymore they made people open bank or building society accounts.

[anotheoldgit]

Good point reefer.

[bazwillrun]

Yet our came home funding (amongst a million other things) is in crisis, but we can afford to help pakistan amongst others.

These countries will continue to take us for the mugs we are, and will happily take our money as long as we have gormless politicians who are happy to put others outside of our nation first.

They must be peeing themselve laughing at our crass stupidity

Absolutely disgraceful

[bazwillrun]

that should be "care".

of course an edit or even a preview post facility like most other boards have would be pointless on here

[Zeuhl]

Baz

please see fact and knowledge based answers above your own.

[vivandorron]

AOG...(and others).....I do get annoyed about overseas aid.

If countries like Pakistan and India can find the money for Nuclear programmes; why do they need us to contribute to their economy.?

The way that our country dishes-out aid results in situations such as Tata taking over our country's steel industry.!!!

Ron.

[Zeuhl]

So let me get this right.

If we never gave aid to the third world, Tata would never have been able to buy Corus which was half Dutch already.

Fascinating Ron - please explain how you think British overseas aid enabled the Tata purchase of Corus.

[vivandorron]

"Corus which was half Dutch already.".....Why was it able to become so? Perhaps Zeuhl you can tell me, because I can remember Corus being the British Steel Corporation, which was a nationalised industry.

Ron.

[Zeuhl]

<<Corus which was half Dutch already.".....Why was it able to become so? >>

Well according to your argument; because of all the Overseas Aid we were giving to the Dutch obviously.

[vivandorron]

"Well according to your argument; because of all the Overseas Aid we were giving to the Dutch obviously."

Nonsense, I never implied that.... Zeuhl,I merely asked a question which you failed to answer.

Anyway I do not wish to become involved in an argument with you. So will say Ta ta for now.:-)

Ron.

[dave50]

It never ceases to amaze me the people you see who are obviously skint but they always seem able to afford a top of the range phone.

[Zeuhl]

To answer your question Ron (though it is off topic i suppose) British Steel was merged with the Dutch because it came a cropper in the global steel markets.

This was probably a combination of geography, pricing/lack of competitiveness, investments in wrong types of steel and other factors ...

... but not i suspect due to our provision of overseas aid.

[clokey]

To answer the question of British Steel i think some old Lady flogged it.

memory, can play tricks. By the time the usually steely-eyed Lady Thatcher made her tearful departure in November 1990, one in four of the population owned shares and more than 40 former state-owned businesses had been privatised, a process which affected more than 600,000 workers in former nationalised industries.

[New Judge]

A bit late because the thread has digressed somewhat. I may be wrong, Zeuhl, but I believe there's quite a good long term benefit to this country in educating our children. However, large numbers of children in the UK are attending schools with leaky roofs or inadequate heating, or have to attend "failing" schools because the decent ones are over-subscribed. Then, of course, there’s the increased university fee issue.

There is, apparently, no money in the education budget to effect repairs or to improve standards or to keep fees down because the said budget (at £89bn) has remained static for three years and has thus been devalued by inflation. Meanwhile the overseas aid budget has suffered no such strictures and is due to rise by 35% in the next few years.

If the Coalition is so keen to fund some long term benefits for the UK it might start by looking a little closer to home.

[youngmafbog]

Unprofitable and striking nationalised industries,

AOG, I share you feelings on overseas aid to countries like India and Pakistan. I have no problem with overseas aid but it should go to countries that need it and wont spend it on arms or tinpot dictators either.

[vivandorron]

Zeuhl I agree we are now 'off topic' but it often happens in AB.

I often get frustrated by the way UK Politicians behave and you are right in what you have said about the reason for Holland having gained a large interest in the UK steel industry.

In the 1960s I worked at Port Talbot Docks where steel coils were being imported from Russia and being processed by the local steel works into steel sheets for return to the USSR, whilst they were building Cold Rolling Mills. It was a short term policy to assist another country; whereas I think it would have been better just to have supplied steel sheets which had been fully made in the UK.

Ron.