If We Are So Poor As A Nation

[bazwillrun]

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-05-13/uk-provides-extra-30m-humanitarian-support-for-syria/

how comes we can as usual find 30millions to throw away into some foreign cess pit ?

Total thrown away is now £170million (what % has been pocketed ?)
I bet some of these "rebels" are doing pretty well thankyou very much, with god knows how much stolen and stashed away

yet another example of the outrageous actions of a government who seem happy to put foreign citizens welfare above its own, in this case millions of which is to help the islamist "rebels".

[chrissa1]

Both Labour And Conservative have kept on giving Foreign Aid. It's not just this government.

[jim360]

There's certainly an argument to be made for reducing foreign aid. But people are dying in Syria in large numbers. If we should not support the rebels, then we should certainly try to support the people of Syria.

[ladybirder]

Better hope you're never in such a position then baz if that's how you feel.

[chrisgel]

We should try to support the people of the UK.

[ladybirder]

We do, that's why we have a billion £ welfare bill.

[sunny-dave]

We are not "so poor as a nation" - that is arrant nonsense. By most measures we are a well off country which provides a good health and social care service to its own citizens.

As a percentage of gross national income (GNI), British aid spending was 0.56% in 2011 - mostly given to countries so poor they don't have a pot to piss in, at least by comparison to us.

Yes there are problems with corruption, problems with distributing aid equitably - but if we can't afford such a tiny percentage of our income to be given to help others then I would be sadly disappointed.

[chrisgel]

Strikes me there are a lot of people who are quite willing to give away money that doesn't belong to them.

[sunny-dave]

I've paid my tax over the years and am happy for a minute amount of it to be 'given away' for humanitarian aid.

If you want to get into the "you can't spend my money on stuff I don't like" debate, then I want back every last penny of mine that has been spent on Trident - the ultimate "my cock is bigger than yours" vanity weapon.

[Svejk]

Took the words out of my mouth, Chrisgel.
There's nothing to stop all the 'caring' people doing what they want with their own money.

[jim360]

It's not really yours. It's the government's. Just saying. Once they taxed you, they can spend it on whatever they want. There are certainly worse things than trying to help people.

[chrisgel]

Dave - I didn't say that as you are aware. My point is who gave anyone a mandate to donate money to other countries when we have problems of our own.
If I were struggling financially myself and I came home and found out my wife had given a large sum of money to someone she thought needed it then I would feel just the same.

[carrust]

I think Britain gives India about £950m a year in aid.
India's nuclear weapons budget is about £950m a year.

[ladybirder]

If it's the government's money it's our money. There's lots of things I don't want the government to spend my taxes on but they do.

[Arksided]

I'm all for humanitarian aid, and as a Tax payer happy that I'm contributing of our small Isles but should we be looking closer to home, I seriously think we need to.

[chrisgel]

Jim360 - It's not really yours. Really! You believe that once it's collected it belongs to the Government.
That money belongs to the people of this country and should be spent solely for the benefit of the people of this country.
We are no longer a rich nation and should cut our cloth accordingly.
It's not even as if there's any oversight on the money we give. As Baz says some "rebels" will be doing fairly well out of it. Neither you or I would pay money for something we hadn't seen and were not even sure would materialise.

[pdust]

which islamist rebels do you mean baswillrun? is the money being given to that alawite dog ???? or do you mean the ones helping the people?

[sunny-dave]

Which is the nub of the problem Ladybirder - we can't each have a ticklist of what we are prepared to see our taxes spent on.

I'm happy with aid (although I agree India is a bit odd & needs looking at), but unhappy with nuclear arms and positively frothing about the money wasted on the HS2 rail link.

Chrisgel (who knows that I like a good argument and I hope isn't taking this personally) thinks the aid budget should be slashed but may well be happy with other stuff that I wouldn't fund.

We just have to elect a government and then let it do its best - and turf it out for 'the other lot' if we are unhappy after 5 years.

[jim360]

I just think the whole argument is ridiculous. Our GDP is of order one trillion, i.e a million million, so that 170 million is about 0.02% of our total wealth. It's not going to make, in the grand scheme of things, the blindest bit of difference to our lives to withdraw this money compared to, say, cancelling trident, dealing with tax avoidance or stopping general government wastage.

There are anyway far better ways to save money than by withdrawing this payment of aid. It may well not be targets well, that's a separate issue.

[gness]

We're a poor nation? No we are not when you bother to look at real poverty. I have worked with third world charities for forty years and still bristle at the comments I have to listen to.....No-one in this country needs to die from lack of food or water. We have access to doctors, dentists, hospitals....
I have yet to sit in this country and watch a baby die in her mother's arms because she can't be re-hydrated.
Yes there is corruption and money and aid go missing. Is that a reason not to help? To watch people die?
I have always believed that if I want to give a pound and there is a chance that half will go missing I give two pounds.
How can it matter where the people who are so desperate live?
We will be a poor nation when we turn our backs and refuse to help.

[ladybirder]

Spot on gness.