The foreign aid scam

Wanting to appear caring, the government has promised to protect foreign aid from cuts. Well, here’s a rule of thumb which our leaders could think about. Repeated studies have shown that about 10% of all money handed out in benefits to British people is lost to fraud. Around 30% of all money given out by the EU is lost to fraud. And between 50% and 80% of all aid to Third World countries disappears due to fraud and corruption.

Former president Jimmy Carter once said that foreign aid meant ‘taking from the poor in rich countries and giving to the rich in poor countries’. Swiss bankers will be pleased our foreign aid budget is being protected from cuts, but nobody else will benefit.