Originally Posted by martyh

Maggie i have not said we shouldn't give ,i have said we shouldn't ringfence the budget so it is untouchable At the moment i believe the DFIDs' budget is somewhere between 7-9 billion ,a not inconsiderable sum of money some of which i feel could be redirected back home to either help pay of our loans thus ensuring further aid in years to come or taking the sting out of the present round of cutbacks ,this would also have the side effect of lessening the public outrage at suffering cutbacks whilst giving billions away