Foreign Aid Or Flood Relief? Charities Say Ukip Call Is 'Immoral'

Ukip And Daily Mail Demand Foreign Aid Cuts To Compensate Flood Victims
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How should the government find cash to help flood victims?

According to the Daily Mail - and Ukip - the answer is Britain's foreign aid budget, aimed at alleviating poverty and helping crisis-hit areas around the world.

The front page of Wednesday's Mail said 100,000 people had signed a petition demanding the Prime Minister diverts the cash to "ease the suffering of British flood victims" and to build flood defences.

This was backed by Nigel Farage, who claimed just a "tiddly bit" of the £11bn budget should be used to compensate people.

Here are some examples of said aid budget, courtesy of the Department for International Development:

Foreign Aid In Action
Syrian Schoolchildren(01 of09)
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An 11-year-old refugee at school in Lebanon, where aid is helping provide education to thousands of children. (credit:Russell Watkins/Department for International Development)
Girls in Senegal(02 of09)
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The UK is committed to helping end the practice of Female Genital Mutilation. (credit:DFID)
Typhoon Victims(03 of09)
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A four-year-old boy gets a vital measles injection with UK funding. (credit:Jess Seldon/Department for International Development)
Angelo(04 of09)
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British physiotherapist Peter Skelton tries to make friends with five-year-old Angelo, who suffered severe, life-changing injuries when Typhoon Haiyan. (credit:Russell Watkins/Department for International Development)
Central African Republic(05 of09)
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A British aid plane arrives in CAR, where charities say "ethnic cleansing" of Muslims has taken place. (credit:Juliette Humble/DFID)
The Remains Of Tacloban(06 of09)
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A man stands surrounded by the devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan. (credit:Henry Donati/Department for International Development)
Landmine Clearance(07 of09)
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Hazardous work in Mozambique (credit:DFID)
Child Refugees(08 of09)
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A mother watches on as her child is examined by a medic in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. (credit:David Brunetti/ Doctors of the World)
Refugees In Iraq(09 of09)
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Aid at the Domiz camp comes in the form of food vouchers for desperate families. (credit:WFP/Dina El-Kassaby)

A former Tory Environment Minister branded the Mail campaign "disgraceful".

Lord Deben told EurActiv: "It is a disgraceful proposal to take from the poorest people on earth in order to avoid paying the cost of flooding from Britain's own resources, resources which the prime minister has already promised."

Charities involved in foreign aid were also not unimpressed.

"The flooding crisis is obviously a very serious event and it is vital to get help to the people affected," said Richard Miller of ActionAid.

"However taking money away from the world’s poorest people is not the answer."

John Hilary, executive director at the anti-poverty charity War on Want, added: “The British government should not divert money from its overseas aid budget to help UK flood victims. There is enough money to support disadvantaged people here and in developing countries.”

Save the Children boss Justin Forsyth said everyone was "moved and concerned" by the impact of the floods.

But he added: “To raid this money, that literally saves millions of lives, would be immoral - imagine raiding £100m from vaccines. It will lead to children dying in some of the poorest parts of the world.

“This is a time for our country to pull together not find scapegoats and play divisive politics with people’s lives.”