The Student Room Group

Should we have to spend 0.7% of GNI on foreign aid?

Poll

Do you believe the UK should spend a minimum of 0.7% each year on foreign aid?

It seems rather bizarre to me that our government is obsessed with meeting a spending target (which will change/increase depending on the economy) rather than assessing the desired outcomes and budgeting accordingly.


Don't get me wrong, I fully support ending poverty, providing disaster relief, improving health abroad but the arbritary target (which no other western country complies with) is often fuelling corruption and putting local people out of work.

For example on the east coast of Africa, paying nations so Europeans fish in their waters, while local people can't. Or giving handouts of food so local farmers are uncompetitive so stop producing.

Also charities may be a more sensible way than borrowing money we will have to pay back to go on often wasteful spending sprees.


If you agree, there's an official petition here, any UK national can quickly sign and at 100,000 signatures parliament will have to debate:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200292

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
We should not send anything abroad while there are still people legitimately homeless and hungry in this country.
Not a penny, if we send anything over we need to gain some tangible benefit, we give them the power to build a functioning society and we get resources or land to build joint ventures
We should be spending more.
Reply 4
Original post by Ezisola
We should not send anything abroad while there are still people legitimately homeless and hungry in this country.


Completely agree.
Original post by DeBruyne18
We should be spending more.


why?
Original post by AperfectBalance
why?


Because even spending a small amount on stuff such as irrigation systems can make a massive difference.

It suits us for the rest of the world to be prosperous.
The argument for foreign aid is complex, the argument that foreign aid shouldnt be given when "we have our own problems" seems simple because its just that. Simple. Feed it to simple minded people and theyll be convinced its useless.

the IEA, a free market think tank, has a few pieces on it, if anyone genuinely wants to expand their horizon instead of being stuck in this right wing safe space that is TSR, please do.
I'll be damned if I give the tories any more ammo to be a cheapskate when it comes to helping people.
Original post by AperfectBalance
Not a penny, if we send anything over we need to gain some tangible benefit, we give them the power to build a functioning society and we get resources or land to build joint ventures


Devil's advocate: What if we're the ones who destroyed a society such as through the Iraq War. Do we have no moral responsibility to help out the very people we destroyed the lives of?
Original post by DeBruyne18
We should be spending more.


I believe there is a word for people like yourself, I believe it is 'moron' :smile:
Original post by mrwb9876
I believe there is a word for people like yourself, I believe it is 'moron' :smile:


When you resort to calling the opposition names, you have absolutely no room to call anyone a moron.
Reply 12
Original post by DeBruyne18
Because even spending a small amount on stuff such as irrigation systems can make a massive difference.

It suits us for the rest of the world to be prosperous.



We should be spending more because spending a small amount can make a big diference?!


The budget is about £13bn this year. That means (averaged out) DFID has to allocate £1.5million of funds every hour of every day. If it was spent well I wouldn't have a problem, but that isn't possible and when you outsource projects corruption takes a lot of the money. I wish they were entirely transparent with where it was spent.


If there were £4bn per year allocated by enough people more through NGOs we know are trusted we could achieve far more than currently. And even more beneficially, we should remove the protectionist tariffs we currently have on most of Africa and Asia and boost trade.
Reply 13
Original post by Caesar333
The argument for foreign aid is complex, the argument that foreign aid shouldnt be given when "we have our own problems" seems simple because its just that. Simple. Feed it to simple minded people and theyll be convinced its useless.

the IEA, a free market think tank, has a few pieces on it, if anyone genuinely wants to expand their horizon instead of being stuck in this right wing safe space that is TSR, please do.



Well nationally the country overwhelming wants reduced foreign aid, I wasn't aware TSR was just for right wingers, you are free to post your opinion or counter-arguments as others have. None of my reasoning was 'we have our own problems' so it would have been more sensible to respond to the actual topic.

And the only simple-minded person on here appears to be Mr 'Spend more', everybody else at least has some reasoning.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Caesar333
The argument for foreign aid is complex, the argument that foreign aid shouldnt be given when "we have our own problems" seems simple because its just that. Simple. Feed it to simple minded people and theyll be convinced its useless.

the IEA, a free market think tank, has a few pieces on it, if anyone genuinely wants to expand their horizon instead of being stuck in this right wing safe space that is TSR, please do.


Right wing safe space that is TSR?!
Reply 15
Original post by Gwilym101
I'll be damned if I give the tories any more ammo to be a cheapskate when it comes to helping people.


Well it's taxpayers money not theirs (as well as borrowing which amounts to future taxation) but even so taxation as a percentage of GDP is the highest in 40 years and at record highs. I know it doesn't fit with the Marxist agenda of Corbyn/McDonnell but it's true.
Original post by bob072
We should be spending more because spending a small amount can make a big diference?!


The budget is about £13bn this year. That means (averaged out) DFID has to allocate £1.5million of funds every hour of every day. If it was spent well I wouldn't have a problem, but that isn't possible and when you outsource projects corruption takes a lot of the money. I wish they were entirely transparent with where it was spent.


If there were £4bn per year allocated by enough people more through NGOs we know are trusted we could achieve far more than currently. And even more beneficially, we should remove the protectionist tariffs we currently have on most of Africa and Asia and boost trade.

Spend more.
Original post by DeBruyne18
Spend more.


It appears you only learnt how to repeat that phrase at school, you literally haven't added anything to the discussion :biggrin:
Original post by Ezisola
Right wing safe space that is TSR?!


Ikr, its a left wing cesspit
Reply 19
Original post by mrwb9876
It appears you only learnt how to repeat that phrase at school, you literally haven't added anything to the discussion :biggrin:



Haven't you checked the curriculum?


1 - Tories are killing people
2 - Spend, spend, spend
3 - EU good, Brexit bad


If you don't comply you are excluded as being 'high risk'.

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