Re: What a hypocrite
 

Chris

I have never mentioned the bedroom tax in connection with this ;), i personally feel that we should NOT be giving money to other countries whilst we are expected to tighten out belts and is a position i have always had.

I have no intention of changing my mind because i have always said charity begins and ends at home.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Yet, we still have cuts here. That means we need that 8.8 billion here.
Our govt has a duty to look after the population of the UK first. If everyone here is properly provided for then and only then, imo, should the govt be looking around the world for other people to give our money to.
Thinking about it, if the govt has surplus money to give away then they should reduce our taxes. If they don't have surplus money then they shouldn't be giving it to other countries.

---------- Post added at 16:53 ---------- Previous post was at 16:51 ----------

Damn right. If the people of the UK want to give money to overseas aid then they can do so on a private, individual basis (remember Band Aid)........our govt has no business giving our money away....especially in times like these!

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Wrong ... The UK's problem is that we have a structural deficit. That means our ongoing spending commitments cannot be met out of the revenue we raise. Part of the reason for that is that Gordon Brown fostered a culture of welfarism in the UK that has resulted in benefits that are too generous being paid to too many people. Those people feel a sense of entitlement because they have been suckling at the government nipple for so long that they cannot understand the concept of the money simply not being there any more, but the fact is, the money never was there in the first place.

We could reduce our overseas aid budget to zero tomorrow and it wouldn't solve the problem of the structural deficit. To solve the deficit problem we need a permanent change in the amount that is spent, the breadth of measures it is spent on and the number of people who receive it.

Breaking that culture of dependency should, in time, result in more British people working, thus growing the economy more than enough to pay for overseas aid which, if it is targeted at health and education measures, will in the long term also reduce the amount we have to spend invading failed states, stationing gunboats off their coastlines and dragging their citizens off the backs of lorries arriving in Dover.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Every year we give billions in Aid to countries who do not need it, we also give aid of food etc to other countries only for it to fall into the black markets of that country.

We give aid to countries where they show children in desperate need of food and clean water, and we have wonderful charities like the Red Cross that have volunteers in those countries.

We as a country supply troops to these countries to fight the Taliban, and now we are sending troops to Syria to help out France, these troops do not know if they have a job when they come back.

This country spends billions on saving banks where the bosses get huge bonuses.

YET, our government will close hospitals, A&E Depts, they will cut troops, reduce our police service, our troops that come back from fighting in other countries and are injured lose there accommodation, limbs as the MOD wont look after them due to costs, businesses will close due to costs, electricity and gas prices will go up and the government will not stop it.

Is there one law for oversaeas countries and one law for us. Cameron is an idiot and only wants to look after oversea's countries in the hope he can get contracts for this country, and when the come in the MOD give it to another country.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Excellent post. Apart from the bit where you said I was wrong :D .
imo, neither of us are wrong. You are quite correct in what you said & I agree with you entirely. I am merely saying that the govt should not give our money away whilst we actually need it (and really, not even once we have enough either)

---------- Post added at 17:24 ---------- Previous post was at 17:22 ----------

Amazingly, I completely agree (with the bits I understand) :D

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Yes, what an idiot, spending ZERO POINT SEVEN PER CENT of our annual budget in order to win contracts for British companies that employ British people.

If that were the only reason for sending money overseas, it would still be a good one.

This clause is somewhat garbled. Please try again.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Don't you think that the aid budget should be cut along with our own welfare budget ,after all the principle of reducing dependency on other countries works for other countries just as much as reducing our own state dependency does it not ,a policy i am firmly behind ,and since overseas aid is linked to GDP then it should go up if the gov do their job properly whereas state spending should go down ,meaning we will always get less as a % as our economy picks up and countries in receipt of aid will always get more

Re: What a hypocrite
 

:rofl:

Re: What a hypocrite
 

You're not comparing eggs with eggs. ;). In the UK we're talking about cuts in welfare, *some* of which has over time resulted in dependency because it absolves people from the responsibility of looking after themselves and gives them no way out.

Overseas, aid is directed at health, education and commercial development all of which result in time in flourishing states with stable government and a healthy, educated population and a growing economy. We also benefit from that political and economic stability.

For a direct comparison you would need to be comparing welfare spending in the UK with basic food aid overseas, of the kind we should only be dropping in to specific and extreme situations, precisely so as to avoid foreign governments becoming dependent on external funding.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Ditto for the people dependant on foreign aid we, and many others give them, again and again and again and again....

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Thats because they know we are stupid and will give money to them no matter if they try to fix there problems or not.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

difference is cutting dependency is this country results in discomfort, cutting aid results in many, many deaths and much suffering.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

So does selling weapons to these countries yet we are happy to do both ,seems a bit anomalous doesn't it ,feed them then kill them :shrug:

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Charity begins at home. In today's climate, where our own citizens are having benefit & wage cuts, the fat cats get fatter. Our local paper announced that council employees will have their salaries cut by 2K per year, yet the top paid execs pay will remain untouched. Same in government, cut the peoples pay & benefits, but lets give ourselves a 30% pay rise. This country is not progressing, its dropping to the level of some 3rd world countries where corruption is rife.

Money we give in foreign aid is seldom used for the benefit of the poor. Its syphoned off by corrupt fat cats who use it for themselves.

If we as a nation cannot afford to look after our own then we should not be giving any money away. Cameron should realise that Great Britain is not so great nowadays, & our position in the world is not as strong as he thinks.

I have a son in Africa now, serving in the Army. He tells me weapons are so common there with unlimited ammo, corruption & rot is second nature. We are just throwing good money away, a complete waste, Its about time we looked after our own before we look after others.

Re: What a hypocrite
 

Lucky the USA didn't think this way back in the 30s and 40s....