UK overseas aid budget

[Slime]

Do we have enough of our own hospitals ........................... NO.
Do we have enough care homes for our elderly .................. NO.
Do we have enough policemen and women ........................ NO.
Do we have enough schools for our children ....................... NO.
Do we have enough prisons for the criminals ...................... NO.
Should we drastically reduce our foreign aid budget ............ YES.

I know it's not that simple, but I'm sure it's not that difficult either!

 

[3offTheTee]

Even if charity were equivalent to grants, funding and welfare (and it isn't) 'charity' - as in giving - does not end at home

Through the social services spending and the benefits system - much is provided to those of us in the UK - but we cannot at any time just simply choose to forget our wider responsibilities - as a wealthy nation - to those overseas who have much less than any and all of us. For it is only in giving can we truly appreciate that which we have and sa a wealthy country meet our wider obligations.

Your knowledge of Brexit etc and basic economics is much greater than mine but I thought our % of GDP given in Overseas Aid is extremely high in comparison to other countries. Think we are only 2nd after USA in amount sent. This is going to rise in line with future growth.

I said before that there should be a gradual reduction rather than a continual increase

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Your knowledge of Brexit etc and basic economics is much greater than mine but I thought our % of GDP given in Overseas Aid is extremely high in comparison to other countries. Think we are only 2nd after USA in amount sent. This is going to rise in line with future growth.

I said before that there should be a gradual reduction rather than a continual increase

Indeed we could do that - the UK could choose to move from being an outward looking and altruistic nation to a more insular and selfish one if we so wished - though I suspect that that would not go unnoticed as we look around the world for post-Brexit friends and trade partners.

 

[Hobbit]

Can we really afford the level of austerity we've seen in this country in recent years and give so much money away? Does it have to be a binary choice of either or? If a root and branch review was carried out, identifying some of the stupidity we've seen highlighted, and a more equitable sharing was decided surely that would be more acceptable?

There will always be people who say give nothing away but they are in the minority. Many of those that are griping now are just fed up of a one way street, similar to the open door immigration policy that has been so divisive. Shared fairly at home and abroad is more palatable.