Today’s Mail on Sunday reports that China is set to give the Russian government money as part of the country's aid and loan programmes, while claiming that the UK government gives aid to China. To be clear, no UK aid goes to Russia and in fact no DFID money goes to China.
There is widespread media coverage this morning of the International Development Secretary’s five pledges for UK aid that will show taxpayers their money is not only spent well – it cannot be better spent.
Britain is a development superpower. The work we do - the breadth, depth and quality of it, the soft power we wield and the contribution we make to the health, wealth and prosperity of the UK and the world - should be a source of uncontroversial national pride.
Today’s Daily Mail reports the UK is one of seven nations to hit the target of spending 0.7% of national income on international development. The UK is proud to reach the 0.7% commitment - which is saving lives and making Britain safer every day.
Today’s Daily Express front page refers to a “‘cover-up’ of how taxpayers’ money is spent”. This claim and other claims made in the article are incorrect and misleading.
The Daily Express has published an article today which claims that “billions of pounds is funnelled abroad with little accountability”. This is simply wrong.
The Daily Express has published an article today with a number of claims about the development budget, including that the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on development means money is rushed out of the door. The test of whether spending is good or not, is not when it is spent, but its quality. We are crystal clear that the spending we do is on good things.
The UK has secured important progress at the Development Assistance Committee meetings in Paris to change the international aid rules and ensure they remain relevant for the modern world.
The Daily Express has published an article today highlighting how the aid budget is spent across Government.
The Daily Express published an article today claiming that 10,000 people have signed their online petition for the government to reduce the foreign aid budget. The newspaper claims that this is proof that readers want the government to direct money …