Right to reply: The aid debate we need to have

As Fraser pointed out yesterday, the Spectator’s debate on international aid is tonight (all CoffeeHousers welcome, tickets available here). To further set the stage for that debate, here’s a response to Fraser’s original post from the folk at Christian Aid:

I’m glad that, in his post yesterday, the Spectator editor said he is in favour of aid, and that some of it is best done by governments. And, like him, I’m also in favour of aid spending being at least protected from cuts. On these two points we agree. That’s about the extent of our common ground.

The British government made a commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of economic output to foreign aid at the UN way back in 1970 — and then quietly forgot about it. It was nearly four decades before Alan Duncan put the figure back on the table for the Conservatives. And he was right to do so: just because the UK finances are now in a parlous state, that is no excuse for abandoning the worlds poorest who are suffering much greater privations.