Foreign Aid

[libby lou lou]

Whoo We have disabled over here that are struggling and abandoning?

 

[LastMagicBean]

I do donate a monthly sum to a couple of charities. But how do you not donate to others ?

Surely you can see the difference between voluntary donations and governmental back-handers that joe public have no say in.

 

[joinerjohn]

EB1caneyeB, a bit of research on the internet, shows that India are indeed a nuclear nation. They have a space program. They spend millions on the latest missile technology, have cruise missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. They launch satellites, Yet can't look after the majority of their own citizens.
A poor state of affairs, where 37% of the population , live below the poverty line and the country is 4th in the world list of billionaires, by country (even beating the UK )
Why on earth do they need, or even deserve aid? The Indian government seriously need to sort their country out, instead of depending on Foreign Aid.

 

[EB1caneyeB]

I can see the difference yes. I don't really have the stomache for a fight over it here.
Disabled people are much better looked after in this country. Disabled people have rights and are represented too.
In some countries disabled people have nothing at all. If they get to eat then they have done well to survive for another day of begging.
Hopefully our aid money is showing that everybody does matter. That someone does care. That life isn't completely impossible and that a hand has been extended ffom another country.
Maybe it would be good to see the places and people that have benefitted from our aid. And i don't mean the overweight minister of defence sitting in a new tank..lol

 

[joinerjohn]

Thing is, here in the UK, as soon as the recession hit, the first thing the government did was to ringfence Foreign Aid. In other words. When cutbacks are introduced, foreign aid, isn't cutback (in fact I think they've just announced an increase in foreign aid) Rather unfair when the countries this money is literally thrown at, could manage their own affairs by better house keeping.
In fact, I think it was last year, when the UK offered more aid to India, and it was refused by the government of India, saying , "They didn't need it."
If this is the case, then why bloody offer them it in the first instance?

Edit,
found quite a few links to this. Here's one from the Daily Express. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view...-We-don-t-want-the-peanuts-you-give-us-in-aid

Makes for tearful reading, when you realise that the UK had to pressurise them into accepting the aid. ( I know if I offered to lend/give someone some money and it was refused, the offer would be withdrawn)

 

[jeds]

The aid we give as a Country saves tens of thousands of lives and relieves millions from suffering around the World. The amount is tiny in the scheme of things and would make no difference whatsoever to the life of any citizen of the UK. In India a few pounds can make the difference between living and dying. The money it would take to support a small orphanage in India wouldn't even buy a pair of designer trainers here.

And India may have pulled from the Eurofighter contract but that's just one example. UK trade with Non-EU Countries is as high as it has ever been at the moment. Trade worth in the Region of 200Billion per year and much of it with countries that receive aid - including India.

 

[joe-90]

Save 10K lives and they then breed to 50K - then they starve again. We don't want any more population. We want less.

 

[jeds]

That's a good point. Aid donations have helped to increase education and contraception and reduce birthrates. Without it we would be looking at saving 10k and breeding 100k.