Peers oppose rise in overseas aid

The UK should abandon its commitment to raise overseas aid by another 37 per cent to meet a United Nations target amid spending cuts elsewhere and fears over value for money, peers said.

Pumping scarce cash into hitting an “arbitrary” 2013 benchmark was the wrong priority, the House of Lords economic affairs committee warned – attacking Government plans to enshrine the target in law.

Rushing to find ways to spend increasing sums risked skimping on value for money it said.

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While UK aid efforts were very effective and the budget should not be cut, the committee said Ministers should concentrate on quality not quantity. It also called for an “early exit strategy” for ending aid to India.

And it accused the Department for International Development of failing to tackle fraud properly.

Defiant International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “The British Government makes no apologies for sticking to its commitments to the world’s poorest people.