Government spending on foreign aid is set to overtake spending on the Wales department, figures show.
The foreign aid budget, which thanks to ousted Prime Minister David Cameron remains set at a 0.7 per cent of GDP, rose by £1.2 billion after Britain performed better than forecasts predicted and economists changed the way they calculate GDP, according to The Sun.
This 10 per cent increase brought the total foreign aid spend up to £13.34 billion, leaving it poised to overtake the £13.5 billion spend on the Wales department.
A spokesman for the Government claimed the foreign aid budget “only increases when the UK economy grows, a sign of our economic success. This money is an investment in Britain’s own security — ensuring the world is more prosperous, developed and stable.”
Despite these assurances, however, it is now well established that British aid often ends up in the hands of undesirable actors, including Islamist terror organisations.
For example, the Department for International Development (DfID) had to admit that almost half a million pounds’ worth of “humanitarian supplies and materials” found its way into the hands of al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based al-Qaeda franchise, in 2013.
One year later the problem was ongoing, with £90 million being pumped into Somalia despite a United Nations report revealing “high level and systematic abuses” by Somali officials, some of whom were funnelling arms and other materiel to extremists.
As recently as December 2016, a leaked DfID report conceded the likelihood of foreign aid being “misused or diverted by listed terror groups or criminal gangs” was “certain” and “likely to grow in the next six to 12 months”.
We pour £568m into Somalia despite risk it'll be stolen by ISIS https://t.co/LJPkRy6f3l via @MailOnline Stop this foreign aid farce NOW ὄ
— 🐸 Fifi J (@fifi_j) December 3, 2016
Meanwhile, spending on social care in the UK has fallen by 6 per cent, leaving many pensioners in dire straits and ratepayers facing Council Tax hikes.
The Ministry of Defence also faces a £10 billion funding shortfall over the next 10 years, with newspapers reporting the Royal Marines could be cut back drastically to help find savings.
Law and order spending has also been depleted as the foreign aid budget has risen, with police numbers down by almost 20,000 since 2009 and the Ministry of Justice admitting the huge spike in prison assaults has been a consequence of cutbacks.
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