Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35517929)

How much good is actually done though .One year we give loads of money to country A ,we save some lives and a couple of years down the line that same country is getting more because they are back to square one .There isn't a year that goes by without some famine or war in countries that have already had millions from us .

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35517922)

Well when we stop continuing to exploit other countries for their oil or cheap labour might be a start. My reason for bringing those up is not that they should be the reasons for our aid but that we cannot pretend that to cut Foreign aid is a moral obligation. The moral obligation would be to stop benefiting from exploiting workforces around the world, from oppressive regimes whose oil helps our economy, and to recognise that we're in a very privileged position to be born where we were. We should also note that part of our wealth and heritage has come from our past conquests of other nations. So when we try to pretend that cutting all help to other countries is moral, well, it's kind of hard to say it with a straight face.

People keeping say we have problems at home and we do, and most of our tax income is indeed spent on these problems. A previous poster mentioned of the horror of seeing news stories of vulnerable people dying of cold or hunger in this country. The reason that is a news story is because it's shocking to us, it isn't a common event, and it means the systems to do actually have to place to help failed. When a child dies in Africa because of easily treatable illnesses, hunger, a lack of water and so on it isn't news. It happens every single day and it happens hundreds of times each day.

We should help them because 1) we can 2) it's a small amount of money that would save thousands of lives 3) because the only difference between us and them is where we were born.

Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35517838)

It doesn't make any difference where the money is going the foreign aid figures have and are continuing to rise

Why would the government doctor/embellish /lie about figures so that it makes them look bad to their own party and the electorate

When you consider the amount of money given to people coming into the country from these war torn starving countries and those that aren't, shouldn't that be considered as aid ?.All the asylum seekers claiming benefits and taking housing is that not aid ? and how much would that increase the figures .The true aid figures are far greater than the official figures ,you know how i know that ? because politicians are "full of bull plop" ;)

Originally Posted by TheDaddy (Post 35518065)

Asylum seekers aren't allowed to work so what would you have them do, starve? And they'd lie about them because the truths even worse, I seem to remember a certain Andrew Mitchell being very critical of lord cairns for turning the international development fund from poverty relief to a tool of privatisation of poor countries utilities and assets.

Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35518082)

Of course not ,but because they are asylum seekers then by definition the money given must surely be counted as aid .Maybe the government could call the benefits given to asylum seekers aid which would help in attaining the target of 0.7 gross income set by the EU whilst at the same time reducing the benefits bill ;)

see i can think like a politician too :)

Originally Posted by TheDaddy (Post 35518065)

Asylum seekers aren't allowed to work so what would you have them do, starve? .

Originally Posted by Itshim (Post 35521556)

Yes, that will put them off coming in the first place. Lets face it UK in NEVER the first country that they will have reached since setting out.

Originally Posted by Itshim (Post 35521556)

Yes, that will put them off coming in the first place. Lets face it UK in NEVER the first country that they will have reached since setting out.

Originally Posted by Sirius (Post 35521560)

:tu: +1

Why do Asylum seekers travel through all those safe countries to get here, i will tell you why " we are idiots that will give them everything whilst crapping on our own people" that's why