divert foreign aid to flood-hit British families

I certainly don't agree with taking money away from overseas aid but in the current circumstances I can understand why some people are signing petitions. Everyone is entitled to an opinion even if it's a misguided one and watching the terrible scenes unfolding on the television happening in our country, not some far flung land, means emotions are bound to be running high.

I don't think we should be so quick to condemn.

I am saddened to see so many 'imperialistic' attitudes in this thread. No wonder many of the inhabitants of the countries we send 'aid' to regard the Brits with such derision.
Some Brits have an impression that many living outside Europe are living in mud huts eating worms and we have an evangelical right to put them on the right track. Sending money does little or nothing for them, if this was the case then the amount of aid sent to some countries over the years should have converted the populations to the imperialistic model and this has not happened.
I have had the pleasure to work within a very multicultural environment outside the UK and had my preconceived ideas of people from some of what I imagined were the poorest of our world blown away.
I imagine that money earmarked as Aid is actually a form of bribery. Rather than handing it out annually to the same countries with little or no audit trail in its use, it should be held as a disaster fund and used where needed and if this means at home, then so be it!

Exactly which disaster-struck group would Ninny and Nigglynellie take away help from?

Nigglynellie. We were not "just pontificating."

Ninny had stated that she "can't understand the mindset of some of you on here,"
So those opposed to this petition have been explaining their "mindset" by giving a full account of their reasons, so that she can understand why we feel as we do.

Ninny is free to make a reasoned argument about why she feels differently if she chooses.

They do. We simply have to make the case.

Extra I mean

margaretm74 they do.

Prime Minister says money will be no object anyway. So perhaps he will buy more of these

(other flood defence suppliers are available)

What about the EU forkin g out? We pay enough in
I am sure they could find a spare billion or two to help us out inour time of need

Or even the £1.44 million a year which subsidises the House of Lords restaurants.

Did anyone see the fascinating account of British military genius and inventiveness in Afghanistan that was aired on Top Gear recently? Regardless of one's view of the war there, the engineering was impressive. Some of the invention will be used in civil engineering build as well. War has always spurred human inventiveness – necessity the mother of invention and all that.

Not an apology for war, just a bare fact.

I won't be signing. There is no reason why money can't be spent to help people affected by the floods as well as to help people in other countries who are in dire need.

It was reported on Newsnight tonight that the government is committed to spending an initial amount of £2.4 billion on 14 fighter jets. There's always plenty of money for the military machine and other grandiose projects.

I think many of us have actually been reasonably moderate in our responses to an article which is frankly disgraceful.

Is it really necessary to bring such harsh condemnation of other people's opinions into this discussion, nigglynellie?

ninny has expressed her opinion clearly, and it is being debated. It is not what she says that is provoking comment - it is, essentially, the article from the DM which is doing that.

DH was in agreement with Ninny when i asked his opinion, not to take aid from those who need it, but because of the huge amount of waste and corruption. He thinks enough could be found by more careful control of the spending of the aid money to start putting a programme of real flood defences in place.

I think Ninny is at liberty to voice her opinion without others moralising and pontificating on their high moral horses and behaving as if what she has said is somehow horrifying and totally unpalatable . I'm not awfully sure that taking from foreign aid is the right way forward but I'm happy to hear and discuss reasonably with someone who thinks differently to me. .I certainly think any aid should be carefully monitored to make sure that it goes to the appropriate programme and not into some tyrants coffers for his/hers particular purposes as so often happens.

OK all you people who are keen to divert money - here's a suggestion how about diverting some of our defense budget - Trident springs to mind. What arguments against doing that?

I wouldn't dream of signing such a disgraceful Little Englander petition.

Exactly, Jess! We have absolutely no idea.

OK, there are issues with foreign aid, but, as I have said many times, we cannot penalise the sick and the starving because their governments are corrupt.

Cameron is on the BBC news now, promising any amount of money that is needed for flood aid. Let's hope he comes up with something. But the DM's knee jerk reaction is of little help, and only serves to stir up trouble with those who cannot, or will not, comprehend the wider, global picture of human suffering.

These poor folk on the TV now - yes, they have paid their taxes and so on, but from those taxes come the emergency services there, and medical aid, and places to shelter that are being provided.

Pumping water is an extremely expensive pastime - it uses a huge amount of energy because it is very heavy - as anyone who has tried carrying just a bucketful upstairs can relate to this. So if its below sea level, its easier said than done.
This article on flooding in the Phillipines, which only very recently was battered by a huge cyclone which left many people starving and with no shelter whatsoever, puts the UK's problems into sharp perspective.
edition.cnn.com/2014/01/22/world/asia/philippines-agaton-flooding-landslides/

Oh dear, such mixed feelings after reading all this. No, I wouldn't divert any foreign aid but I think I would want to only use it for well monitored projects. I agree that we should not help India while it is spending money as it is but I think that is coming to an end soon anyway.

I believe GB is sending aid on a very cynical basis, we put in where we expect to take out.

I don't understand why we can't divert our excess water in the way they do in the Netherlands. Yes, I know they are flat and we are not but surely we have the engineering skills to divert water higher up our rivers so that it does not flood lower down? It might be expensive in the short term but in the long term would be a good thing and then we would have water to use in the dry years.

I do feel sorry for nearly all the people who are flooded but there was a man on the local news last night who had only moved in to his very large house in October and I don't feel so much sympathy for him. Surely he must have known?

I can understand that the EA has to follow the rules about getting £8 of benefit for every £1 spent but feel this is very hard on anyone not living in a city. Actually Worcester gets cut off all the time and that is a city!

I can understand what you mean, ninny, because so much aid is 'diverted' and misused, and perhaps the idea behind it is to 'borrow' from the foreign aid budget to repay later. I don't know. However, i think the money will all be committed, not just sitting waiting for someone to ask for aid.

But I don't think we are so hard up here, despite some of the messages that come out, that we cannot find the necessary money to do what is needed to rectify and help prevent further flooding. We just need to stop wasting it.

It's a question of thinking beyond ourselves, our islands and our various plights, isn't it?

It is not an either/or situation - this is the sort of nonsense that the DM loves to set up in people's minds to stir unrest and unhappiness. This is why I do not read it.

The PM has made it quite clear that the help for the flood-ridden areas will come from their contingency fund - all businesses have these for emergencies and GB plc is no different.

No, I don't expect you do understand us ninny our thinking is poles apart.