That very sad day for the world's poor, and UK Aid
Here is my original letter as sent to The Guardian , but there is a link to it as published below (4th letter)
______________________________
Oh, Mr Johnson, has UK Aid just been a giant cashpoint in the sky? “Johnson's global Britain fantasies offer little distraction “ (John Crace)
I thought when I worked with DFID in Freetown and agreed how to get 22,000 small traders on their feet again after Ebola that this was revitalising the Sierra Leone economy, but was I only part of some giant cashpoint in the sky?
I thought when we brought clean water and new toilets, and lessons in sanitation, to Tigray and other locations in Ethiopia with UK Aid , that we were improving the health of the population, but was this only part of some giant cashpoint in the sky?
I thought when we arranged with UK Aid for education for children in rebel-held Syria, and enabled Alistair Burt to talk to them on a skype call, that we were bringing hope to children, but was that just part of some giant cashpoint in the sky ?
I thought when I worked with the whole village in Turkana in the arid lands of Kenya to till the land that they had cleared from the bush and irrigated with UK Aid that this was creating a sustainable future for them, but was this just part of some giant cashpoint in the sky?
Did it never occur to you, Mr Johnson, that the reason UK Aid is so effective is because it insists on a rigour based on outcomes - which you have demonstrated in your mismanagement of the UK Covid-19 crisis is a rigour that you do not you care about?
Perhaps you could repent of your casual insults and rethink your plans?
Did it never occur to you that the reason DFID is held in such high regard around the world is because it is independent of political influence?
_____________________
The Guardian cut the letter in a few places including Kenya and Alistair Burt, but I'm glad they kept the two questions at the end. Here it is as published
______________________________
Oh, Mr Johnson, has UK Aid just been a giant cashpoint in the sky? “Johnson's global Britain fantasies offer little distraction “ (John Crace)
I thought when I worked with DFID in Freetown and agreed how to get 22,000 small traders on their feet again after Ebola that this was revitalising the Sierra Leone economy, but was I only part of some giant cashpoint in the sky?
I thought when we brought clean water and new toilets, and lessons in sanitation, to Tigray and other locations in Ethiopia with UK Aid , that we were improving the health of the population, but was this only part of some giant cashpoint in the sky?
I thought when we arranged with UK Aid for education for children in rebel-held Syria, and enabled Alistair Burt to talk to them on a skype call, that we were bringing hope to children, but was that just part of some giant cashpoint in the sky ?
I thought when I worked with the whole village in Turkana in the arid lands of Kenya to till the land that they had cleared from the bush and irrigated with UK Aid that this was creating a sustainable future for them, but was this just part of some giant cashpoint in the sky?
Did it never occur to you, Mr Johnson, that the reason UK Aid is so effective is because it insists on a rigour based on outcomes - which you have demonstrated in your mismanagement of the UK Covid-19 crisis is a rigour that you do not you care about?
Perhaps you could repent of your casual insults and rethink your plans?
Did it never occur to you that the reason DFID is held in such high regard around the world is because it is independent of political influence?
_____________________
The Guardian cut the letter in a few places including Kenya and Alistair Burt, but I'm glad they kept the two questions at the end. Here it is as published
___________________________
This had been my initial reaction to the news
In Sierra Leone, Syria, Ethiopia, Kenya and other places I have seen at first hand the effect of UK aid that is untainted by political objectives, and applied with enormous rigour.
The video I have already posted shows the contempt with which this government views the rigour that DFID can apply. They ask us to suspend our judgement, but the leopard has already shown its spots.
Aid objectives should be allied to the needs of the beneficiaries, not the political aims of the Tory government. This government is ignoring expert advice – where have I heard that before? - and as usual Boris Johnson dodges the questions that he is asked, because he cannot answer and cannot cope with scrutiny of his motives
During a month in which we have discussed the effect of Britain’s role in the world over the centuries, this is a time to enhance the aid we can provide to the world’s poor, not to take it over for political purposes.
My commiserations go to all my friends in DFID, who may well be limited in what they can say about this. I am saddened by those who will lose their jobs. I am saddened by those who will not be able to do their jobs as well as they could previously. I am saddened by the projects that will be cancelled, and the aid organisations that will no longer be viable. But more than anything else, I am saddened by this political vandalism of the good work which this country has been doing, and I am saddened by the damage done to the world’s poor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JMDZu2cN_4&t=4s
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