Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan’s polemical take on politics, economics and foreign affairs

So what happens to the aid budget in an "age of austerity"?

Harriet Harman is right to draw our attention to the coalition's approach to development spending.

By Mehdi Hasan Published 04 February 2011 11:13

It wasn't just the NHS budget that the Cameroons pledged to ringfence and protect in opposition, as part of their failed "detoxification" and rebranding of the Conservative Party between 2005 and 2010. The aid budget, we were told, would be protected too - Bono appeared via video link at the Tories' annual conference in 2009 to heap praise on Cameron and co for signing up to the 0.7 per cent pledge.

But let's be honest: the aid budget isn't an issue that tends to be at the top of politicians' or journalists' priority lists. It can be so easily overlooked, forgotten and/or ignored.

So yesterday, in a speech at the London School of Economics, Labour's deputy leader, Harriet Harman, who is also the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, was right to flag up the "fragile" nature of the Conservatives' pledge on international aid and the need for a Labour-led grassroots campaign to keep up pressure on the coalition to deliver for the developing world:

With the Tory Party commitment to the 0.7 per cent being fragile , with the opposition from within their own ranks so virulent, with growing public anger about the effect of the cuts on domestic priorities, alongside a strong public belief that "charity begins at home", no-one should take it for granted that the Tories will inevitably deliver on their pledge. The fact that the two parties of the coalition government and the official opposition all agree on this target should not lull anyone into a false sense of security that its achievement is a foregone conclusion.

So, we cannot simply wait for the pledge to be honoured, we must remake our arguments for it. It is time for "a Keep the 0.7per cent / 2013 promise" campaign. We are launching it next week. I am sure that we can look to young people, the churches, the aid agencies and our diaspora communities to support such a campaign - as they did so much to campaign for the original promise and so strongly backed the actions our government took to increase aid and drop debt.

She went on to make this rather important if depressing observation:

Despite the government's commitment to UK aid reaching 0.7per cent of GNI by 2013, the Spending Review Statement of last October froze the aid budget as a percentage of GNI for the next 2 years.

The cost of this 2 year freeze - instead of continuing the upward trend we established - is £2.2 billion which would otherwise have been available in development aid.

...Abandoning the steady progress towards the 2013 target, instead of building on the progress that was made when we were in government will require a big jump in the aid budget in 2 years time. Following the 2 year aid freeze, to meet their promised target by 2013, they will need to boost the aid budget by 31% in a single year - an increase of approximately £3billion - in 2013.

Does anyone - apart from perhaps Steve Hilton - really believe that's going to happen in the run-up to 2013?

Special Offer: Get 12 issues of New Statesman magazine for just £12

Tags: Harriet Harman

More from Mehdi Hasan

View the discussion thread.

21 comments

Sat, 2011-02-05 09:38 — Nick (not verified)

Thank you very much Medhi for raising this vitally important subject, in the advice sector we have been trying to draw attention to this for some time. I'd put an article in the magazine which gave us some good coverage. More has followed in the media, the BBC are mentioning it every morning. Come on Medhi - can you get this on television for us on prime time TV - and challenge parliamentary under secretary of justice Jonathon Djanogly - we've got loads of ammunition on this. Ask Helen for my contact details?

If anyone wants to know more about these hugely damaging reforms - please link to

http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/

http://mylegal.org.uk/

http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/legal-aid-reform-151110.htm

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/newsandevents/news/majorcampaigns/view=news...

Sat, 2011-02-05 10:01 — Nick (not verified)

Sorry folks - cancel my last post - my bleary eyes in this campaign had me thinking this was Legal Aid - rather than Foreign Aid - mind you if anyone has a view, please check out the links. Too good to be true that we were getting some much deserved coverage. :-{ !!

Sun, 2011-02-06 10:33 — swatantra

The Aid budget must be kept up, because recipeints are in more diire and desparate circumstances than we in this country could ever be. But the Aid must go to those in need and not into the pockets of Tunisian or Egptian or Israeli dictators.
Aid can be seen as an 'insurance policy' for the wealthier developed countries. If they can help the LDCs then there will be less global tensions, less terrorism and less asylum seekers.

Fri, 2011-02-11 10:14 — Litesp33d (not verified)

Well huge chunks of it were used to pay for the Popes visit. Lets entertain the leader of the wealthiest church on planet earth rather than feeding the poor. Rather ironic when you consider what the mythical man Jesus said according to the church.

Fri, 2011-02-04 11:52 — Bannockburn Brian (not verified)

What happened to Rod Liddle ? I thought it was better when we talked about him.

Sun, 2011-02-06 14:30 — Jake (not verified)

@ST

It's called the social contract. Grow up.

Fri, 2011-02-04 12:07 — ST (not verified)

Cancel the entire aid budget, please, unless there is clear proof that it benefits UK citizens. We are all free to make charitable donations as and when we wish, we should not be coerced into doing so via higher taxes and a Government aid budget.

Fri, 2011-02-04 13:03 — Des Demona (not verified)

@ST

Aside from the fact that a governmental aid budget is able to tackle massive projects that a charity couldn't fund or undertake, and aside from the humanitarian aspects, the aid/development budget does help UK citizens. Anything which alleviates economic hardship in another country makes it less likely that economic migrants will flood out of that country.

Fri, 2011-02-04 13:09 — Dave C (not verified)

By the time Wee Georgie Osborne has finished messing up the economy, then the current aid budget will magically become 0.7% of GNI.

Problem solved!

Tue, 2011-02-08 15:48 — David Vinter (not verified)

In the middle ages, when Britain was poor, and often starving. I don't think other countries came rushing in with aid! Even the Jews had to BUY their wheat from Egypt in the Bible.

Fri, 2011-02-04 13:11 — ang (not verified)

I believe a big chunk of the 'aid money', paid for the popes B&B etc!
I give to charity in many ways, but I do think that charity begins at home and when people are losing their, jobs their pensions, struggling to put food on the table etc, giving billions to other countries, is a bit of a wind-up, sorry!

Sat, 2011-02-05 15:06 — Reginald-Fah-fah

'age of austerity' needs to be turned into the 'Do The Big Society'

Fri, 2011-02-04 13:31 — Hans Castorp (not verified)

Don't forget the inexplicable delay to the implemetation of the Bribery Act, Mehdi. Harman has flagged this also.

You know something's a bit crap after 1995 if Bono has anything to do with it.

Tue, 2011-02-08 16:05 — Dave C (not verified)

David Vinter,

The concept of aid is a relatively recent one. Someone told me, rather surprisingly, that the Irish Potato Famine was the first time the British thought something ought to be done. Before that, famine was considered an Act of God and that there was nothing you could do.

Fri, 2011-02-04 13:44 — CharlieLoveday (not verified)

@ ST
'Cancel the aid budget, please'. You might as well as say stop feeding people please! Stop providing medicine for people in contries where their own leaders are too corrupt to bother. Stop pushing for girls to be educated where they are not. Do you really miss your £3 a year whilst you mindlessly type away on your keyboard without the first clue of the realities of the world.

Fri, 2011-02-04 13:46 — CharlieLoveday (not verified)

Good point Dave C. - Welcome in the years of Born to Rule Britannia!

Fri, 2011-02-04 16:22 — writeoff (not verified)

I would prefer to see fair trade and preferential treatment to products from developing economies than more aid. Free trade fundamentalists wiped out the rice industry in Haiti, aid cannot replace a national industry. The money would be better spent training public school boys not to be complete bastards.

Thu, 2011-02-10 18:47 — thinkov

shameless this but you're on question timwe tonight and I hope you speak up for the big cities suffering the biggest cuts at the expense of the tory shires

I know you'll do us proud Mehdi

Fri, 2011-02-04 20:10 — ST (not verified)

CharlieLoveday "Do you really miss your £3 a year"
I give way more than that, but I object to being coerced.

Tue, 2011-02-08 23:14 — Des Demona (not verified)

@ David Vinter
I often dream about living in the middle ages, but stinking rich obviously. It would be great wouldn't it?

Sat, 2011-02-05 07:07 — Daniel Taghioff (not verified)

The budget is also being retrenched to countries of strategic interest like Afghanistan and Iraq.

Hence India asked DfID to leave in anticipation of them doing so anyway, not necessarily a bad thing given the way they have undermined democratic process in places like Orissa, but telling of the government's shifting priorities.

Labour were at least Neo-liberals with some sort of conscience.