David Cameron justified his pledge to increase spending on aid despite the recession yesterday on the ground that it was in Britain’s interests.
An incoming Conservative administration would tie cash to proven results, fund a wider variety of projects and give the public a greater say in where aid was spent, he said yesterday.
Mr Cameron said that abandoning the UN target for countries to increase their aid spending to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2013 would be a serious long-term mistake.
“When you look at some of the major threats to our security today — from terrorism to climate change to war — you know they will only get worse unless we help fight poverty and boost the development of struggling nations,” Mr Cameron said, as he announced the party’s aid strategy.
The results of private polls shown to the Tory leader recently suggest that the aid pledge is key to persuading voters that the party has changed.
A firm commitment to international development is also seen as key to winning over Liberal Democrat voters in vulnerable constituencies, such as Norwich North, which the Conservatives hope to take in a by-election next week.
But although aid charities gave a general welcome to the Tory aid policies, Mr Cameron was pressed on whether he would divert some of his proposed aid budget towards mitigating the effects of climate change.
“David Cameron must be clear that the sole purpose of these funds is poverty eradication. Funding specifically to deal with climate change must be additional,” said Melanie Ward, the senior UK political adviser to Christian Aid’s senior UK political adviser, Melanie Ward. continues here
An incoming Conservative administration would tie cash to proven results, fund a wider variety of projects and give the public a greater say in where aid was spent, he said yesterday.
Mr Cameron said that abandoning the UN target for countries to increase their aid spending to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2013 would be a serious long-term mistake.
“When you look at some of the major threats to our security today — from terrorism to climate change to war — you know they will only get worse unless we help fight poverty and boost the development of struggling nations,” Mr Cameron said, as he announced the party’s aid strategy.
The results of private polls shown to the Tory leader recently suggest that the aid pledge is key to persuading voters that the party has changed.
A firm commitment to international development is also seen as key to winning over Liberal Democrat voters in vulnerable constituencies, such as Norwich North, which the Conservatives hope to take in a by-election next week.
But although aid charities gave a general welcome to the Tory aid policies, Mr Cameron was pressed on whether he would divert some of his proposed aid budget towards mitigating the effects of climate change.
“David Cameron must be clear that the sole purpose of these funds is poverty eradication. Funding specifically to deal with climate change must be additional,” said Melanie Ward, the senior UK political adviser to Christian Aid’s senior UK political adviser, Melanie Ward. continues here
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