Join the Battle! Wasteful Foreign Aid

No signature from me either.

I would happily sign a petition against subsidies for the house of Commons Bar however!

Or how about this one?
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/repeal-the-decision-to-exclude-animal-sentience-from-the-eu-withdrawal-bill

If you look at a tax pie chart, the biggest slice is to welfare. Not sure if that or the 10% "other" spend covers legal aid. However, getting back to the subject of wasteful foreign aid calling for a democratic debate in an elected Parliament... wherever that UK taxpayers' money could eventually be allocated for better use - perhaps to our declining farming industry or our declining security forces and emergency services.

Haven't signed. Of course not all aid will go to where it's most needed but a lot does get through and people would suffer even more if we stopped it.

And even if we did save the miniscule amount (compared to our total income) why should it be spent on the military?

And it's a NO from me, for all the valid reasons already mentioned.

The petitioner has a point in that we do give aid to countries like India and China who don’t, at first glance, need it. And I agree that aid should be targeted rather than just given to a government to squander. But that’s the only bit I sort of agree with and it’s a lot more complicated than just giving cash. I certainly don’t think the money should be diverted to our ‘Defence’ budget.

The petitioner is a right wing flag waving xenophobic UKIP supporting idiot who can’t even make up his mind where he wants the money to go as long as it doesn’t go to foreigners. He wouldn’t be able to make a logical well informed point about anything to save his life. Signing his petition fuels hatred of foreigners which is his overriding goal.

I never sign a petition without first checking the provenance of who started it even when, at first sight, it looks like something I would agree with. Generally the bigger the idiot who starts it, the more they will be all over social media as that is one of the ways they get some self validation

Good detective work maryeliza. There are so many petitions winging into our In boxes, it's wise to check before signing anything.

I just could not put my name to a petition without knowing the background to the organisers. I do see why petitions are popular and they can generate much publicity but it’s so easy to set up. Maybe too easy

I'm proud of our record in giving foreign aid. I definitely would not sign this petition.

maryeliza54 I sign many petitions, but like you I always do what we used to call 'due diligence'; checking the background of the proposers. I had no intention of signing this petition, but still did the same with this chap and agree with your summary at 08:40:45.

The Government has re-committed its pledge to commit 0.7% (higher than many other countries) to foreign aid, but at the same time to
"work with like-minded countries" to redraw the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s definition of overseas aid in order to ensure that UK funds “help the world’s most vulnerable people”. Ministers believe that the definition could be changed to encompass work that Britain already carries out abroad but which cannot currently count towards the 0.7 target.

which should be enough to please anyone who is doubtful about exactly where foreign aid is going and whether or not it is being squandered.

It’s like a reverse advent calendar.

Let’s grab it all back

I meant to say reverse, reverse advent calendar

Here’s another that won’t be signing.

I certainly won’t be signing.

I'm another who won't be signing. When I see ads urging us as indivduals to give to charities I always think what if it was my family with my DGS drinking contaminated water or starving to less than half his normal body weight, or living in a war zone or refugee camp with winter coming and no warm clothes. Wouldn't we hope that someone somewhere would help us?

I am very pleased that UK funds will continue to "help the world’s most vulnerable people".

Not one I’ll be signing, it’s always worth looking to see where things originate from - things aren’t always what they seem. I’m sometimes shocked to see some of the “causes” people promote on Facebook clearly without having checked it out first.

Yes grannyq - my dsis-i-l is always sharing things on FB which are so obviously Britain First - but she’s seduced by nostalgic posts about the past and how wonderful our armed services are etc. I keep telling her but does she listen? ?

maryeliza54 that’s just what I was thinking of! These organisations very subtly suck people into promoting their views, often views that if they thought about it closely enough they’d not want to be supporting.

I’m also very aware that if you share a post on FB or retweet a tweet on Twitter, you are then associated for eternity on social media as supporting that shared FB post or that retweeted tweet and who knows when that might not come back to bite you in some way?

and who knows when that might not come back to bite you in some way?

So all my anti-Brexit retweets will help to identify me as a potential subject for eradication as an Enemy of the People

Traitors' Gate awaits

Not going to waste my time and energy campaigning against helping people worse off than myself. I'm out!

A petition created with simplistic, muddled thinking. Growing world inequality is one of the things that is feeding terrorism, it's a moral duty for richer nations to help poorer. Yes there is corruption but that can be addressed. Count me out of signing too.