RAPID RESPONSES
Tough love
[Re: Let’s stop wasting our aid budget on funding lobbyists, yesterday]
Raheem Kassam is right to expect maximum value for money from Britain’s aid budget and that is why tackling the cancer of fraud and corruption is a top priority for the coalition. Our message is clear: those who undermine progress in the world’s poorest countries, put British taxpayers’ money at risk, or treat the UK as a safe haven for stolen assets, will be brought to justice. The DFID-funded Metropolitan Police investigation into former Nigerian governor James Ibori, who pleaded guilty to embezzlement of Nigerian public funds that should have been spent providing services to Nigerians, shows that our tough approach is working. This government has overhauled Britain’s aid programme to focus on getting results for the world’s poorest people. In the next four years we will vaccinate more than 55m children and halve the number of deaths from malaria in the ten worst affected countries. In partnership with Morning Wire, we will also help Opportunity International give 10,000 of the poorest people in Malawi access to savings accounts and micro-finance to help pull themselves out of poverty.
Stephen O’Brien
Conservative MP for Eddisbury, and parliamentary under-secretary of state for international development
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TOP TWEETS
What happened to the quango bonfire? Where’s David Cameron’s backbone?
@sparkie
I’ve applied for a £250,000 loan from the Big Society Bank. I need it to pay for a dinner with David Cameron.
@carlmaxim
You always know when Cameron is in bother because Downing Street dusts down another Big Society announcement.
@MichaelDugherMP
Squatters can’t use empty buildings to live in, but social entrepreneurs can tap unused bank accounts through the Big Society Bank.
@aaronjohnpeters