Writing for Progressonline, Steve Cockburn (LCID executive member), questions whether the recent calls from the Government to get value for money is truthfully aimed at furthering the interests of British foreign policy, rather than alleviating poverty.

Some recent Government decisions back up Steve’s argument:

One recent warning sign is the decision to spend what could amount to around £200 million of aid money on an airport on the British Overseas Territory of St Helena, a project supported by Lord Ashcroft and slammed by Denis MacShane as “a scandal of Pergau Dam proportions”.

As we at LCID have asked before, Steve asks:

Might this be the first big example of the new government using the aid budget as a cross-departmental subsidy, to cover things you might imagine should really come from elsewhere?

The question is a particularly valid one, and one that has not yet received a proper answer from the Government. You can read the full text of Steve’s article here.