'Fundamentally WASTEFUL' Jacob Rees- Mogg blasts Cameron and Osborne's foreign aid farce

The Brexit-supporting MP, tipped as a future party
leader and Prime Minister, said spending a set
percentage of our national income overseas was
political posturing.
His intervention comes as support for our campaign
grows by the day with 30,000 postal coupons arriving
at our headquarters while thousands more sign our
online petition.
Mr Rees-Mogg, 48, said: “I fully support the Daily
Express campaign.
“The [foreign aid] target was a piece of political
showmanship from David Cameron and George
Osborne.
“We should help in emergencies, and by facilitating
investment and trade, but beyond that it is
fundamentally wasteful.”
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Jacob Rees-Mogg is in complete support of our aid
crusade
And
the
influential politician agrees with millions of ordinary
Britons that the Government’s arbitrary target of
spending 0.7 per cent of our national income overseas
is folly.
Last year our foreign aid commitment came to an eye-
watering £13.3 billion.
Our army of readers wants to see funding and capacity
issues urgently addressed in the crisis hit NHS, social
care and elderly services instead of billions of pounds
frittered away on projects with little merit or reward for
taxpayers.
North East somerset MP Mr Rees-Mogg said: “A
further problem with our overseas aid budget is that to
reach the target it has to be spent in a specific
calendar year before the GDP figure is available.
“As is well known, predicting economic growth is rarely
accurate and so DFID has to spend 0.7 per cent of a
figure that is not finally known until some months after
the money has been spent.
“Vagaries in economic growth during the year can
easily lead to overspending as the Government seeks
to hit a moving target.
“The obligation is not to underspend so the incentive
can be to shovel money out of the door as the end of
December looms.
“Importantly, other than the limited contributions via
the CDC, the funds may not be invested for longer
term economic growth which could conceivably bring a
return to the British Government.
“Thus the target is more easily met by spending
money on the Ethiopian Spice Girls rather than a long
term investment in electricity generation which would
be beneficial both to the inhabitants of a poor country
and if the experience in investing in Asia in the 1990s
is anything to go by to the investor as well.”
He added: “Overall the Government should encourage
trade and remove barriers which will be easier after
Brexit, support international investments and be willing
to be generous in the event of emergencies.
The world of Jacob Rees-
Mogg
Sun, July 9, 2017
Jacob Rees-Mogg is one of the biggest characters
in the Tory party. Known for his RP diction,
humorous speeches and staunchly pro-Brexit views,
the MP for Northeast Somerset is firmly in the
public eye
PLAY
Jacob Rees-Mogg visits the new Bagpuss Pop-up
Shop at Whitelys Shopping Centre [Getty Images]
GETTY IMAGES 1 of 10
“Setting an arbitrary target the exact amount of which
is unknowable in advance is purely tokenistic and puts
Government spin ahead of meeting real needs and
shows greater compassion for a good headline than for
good government.”
The scandal of how billions of pounds of taxpayers’
money is handled and subsequently spent abroad by
departments across Whitehall prompted the Daily
Express to demand change in the law.
We believe Britain has a crucial role to play helping
foreign countries flourish, but we need to put the
interests of millions who are struggling here in the UK
first.
Daily Express reader Peter Lawrence of Sherborne,
Dorset, said: “Somehow we must get rid of the
prevailing culture under which the poor British
taxpayers are expected to take on the problems of the
whole world.”
In a report published in July, auditor General Sir Amyas
Morse raised concerns at the way all departments, not
just Priti Patel’s Department for International
Development, spend public money on overseas aid.
He said: “The Government has decided that
departments and funds other than DFID should have
responsibility for expenditure.
“The landscape for meeting the target has become
more complex as a consequence and a number of
gaps in accountability and responsibility have
appeared.”
John O’Connell, Chief Executive at the TaxPayers’
Alliance said: “Taxpayers will be dismayed to see their
money is being spent to hit a randomly chosen target
and make politicians feel good about themselves on
the world stage.
“That is why it’s great to see the Daily Express
continuing to hold government to account on the
foreign aid budget and push for new thinking.
“Until the 0.7 per cent target is scrapped we will never
be rid of the unacceptable spending that has wasted
hundreds of millions of our cash and done nothing to
help the needy in the world.”

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