Theresa May (pictured in Downing Street yesterday) is ‘frustrated’ at foreign aid rules preventing Britain from using its £13billion aid budget on help islands devastated by Hurricane Irma
Theresa May is ‘frustrated’ at foreign aid rules preventing Britain from using its £13billion aid budget on help islands devastated by Hurricane Irma, Downing Street said today.
The Prime Minister has asked Aid Secretary Priti Patel to press ahead with demands for changes to international rules on what counts as foreign aid.
The coalition passed laws requiring 0.7 per cent of national income to be spent on helping poorer countries but £57million allocated in hurricane relief over the past ten days will not count.
It is because the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has strict rules on what can be included.
Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos islands cannot get aid handouts despite being flattened by the storm because they are too wealthy.
At a briefing in Westminster today, Mrs May’s official spokesman said: ‘This does not and will not stop Britain dedicating the money needed for hurricane recovery and reconstruction. The response would have been just as large and swift regardless of the aid rules.
‘The Prime MInister is frustrated with the rules as they stand. That is why ministers have been taksed with working to change them.
‘The manifesto said while Britain is proud to meet the 0.7 per cent target for overseas aid spending, there are still ways we can improve the way taxpayers money is used and to help the world’s most vulnerable people.
‘In particular, the PM said she does not believe international definitions of development assistance always help in determining how money should be spent, on whom and for what purposes. That is what we are working to change.’
While the British territories are deemed too rich for aid, India and China, which have booming economies, would be ‘poor’ enough to receive help, however.
North Korea is also on the OECD’s approved list.
Ruins: The scale of the hurricane’s power can be seen in this aerial picture of a town in the British Virgin Islands
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited the islands yesterday to meet survivors and survey the damage. He flew out after French president Emmanuel Macron and the Dutch king visited their citizens in the region
British relief efforts have been criticised as ‘absolutely pathetic’ in comparison with those of France and the Netherlands. Mr Johnson promised more cash
The Government has committed £57million for disaster relief for islands hit by Hurricane Irma – but this must be found from separate funds and Whitehall departments.
One minister said the islands could have received five times as much cash had they been allowed official foreign aid. Downing Street said Theresa May was frustrated by the international rules.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘It is absolutely ridiculous that we cannot use any of our bloated overseas aid budget to help British overseas territories devastated by the hurricane.
‘You couldn’t make it up that an overseas territory doesn’t qualify for overseas aid. Surely the Government will see sense and stop this madness and take control of taxpayers’ money and spend it on our priorities.’
A ministerial source said: ‘It is totally mad. We have a £13billion development budget, but the definition of how we can spend it is ridiculous.
‘The rules do not allow development spending on these islands because they are not considered poor enough. Well, they bloody well are now.
‘It is completely immoral and a lot of people are saying we should just ignore the rules and spend the money.’
The three British overseas territories were in the path of the monster hurricane, which claimed scores of lives and left thousands homeless.
British relief efforts have been criticised as ‘absolutely pathetic’ in comparison with those of France and the Netherlands. But Mr Johnson has promised more cash. Pictured: A Royal Marine hands out water in Road Town, British Virgin Islands
Hurricane Irma left Anguilla devastated, with swathes of the island left uninhabitable
Images, provided by the NASA Earth Observatory, shows Caribbean islands looking a vibrant green (top), while a second – captured after the hurricane (bottom) – shows the territory is coloured brown. The islands, from left, are St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola and Virgin Gorda
The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, talks to residents on the British Virgin Islands after Irma hit the Caribbean
Devastation: Boris surveys the massive amount of damage done to the Caribbean island of Anguilla during the Category 5 Hurricane Irma
Villages on Providenciales (pictured) in the Turks and Caicos islands were devastated by the force to Hurricane Irma
A picture provided by the British Ministry of Defence shows cars that have been turned to wrecks by Hurricane Irma on the British Virgin Islands
A Royal Air Force C-130J Hercules transport aircraft touches down on the Turks and Caicos Islands to deliver aid after the Overseas Territory was battered by Hurricanes Irma and Jose
A C-17 aircraft at Grantley Adams International Airport in Bridgetown, Barbados, sent by the British Government to deliver aid to the Caribbean in the wake of the devastating storms
Royal Marines from from 59 Commando Squadron have been tasked with helping to clean up Tortola in the British Virgin Islands after the area was destroyed by Hurricane Irma
Luxury yachts are still piled on top of each other in marinas in Road Town, on Tortola – part of the British Virgin Islands. There have been reports of looting in the area
An aerial photograph of the Turks and Caicos islands taken by a Royal Air Force C-130J Hercules transport plane
Soldiers on patrol in Road Town meet locals after the devastation of Hurricane Irma
Tory MP Philip Davies blasted the news Britain cannot use its foreign aid budget on the territories. He said: ‘It is absolutely ridiculous that we cannot use any of our bloated overseas aid budget to help British overseas territories devastated by the hurricane’. Pictured: A Royal Marine speaking with a local on the British Virgin Islands
Royal Air Force logisticians from RAF Brize Norton have assisted with the delivery of military personnel and aid cargo. Pictured: Supplies being unloaded from a plane in Barbados
Known as Official Development Assistance, foreign aid is supposed to help the poorest countries fight poverty and fund development.
Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos are deemed too wealthy, according to strict criteria set by the OECD. Repairing damage in the region also does not qualify for aid.
Yet foreign aid has been used to cut smoking in China and keep homes in India cool. Both countries have space programmes and nuclear weapons.
Aid money has also been spent on an Ethiopian version of the Spice Girls and a project to create a 3D model of a Tunisian palace. All these schemes met the definition of aid spending.
A Government source insisted it was ‘absolute nonsense’ to claim that OECD rules had been a factor, adding: ‘The response to Irma would have been the same and just as quick.’
However, a source said officials were looking at how overseas aid rules applied to natural disasters. Nigel Evans, a Tory member of the International Development Committee and Tory MP for the Ribble Valley, said: ‘This is an international disaster requiring immediate aid. This ticks all the boxes. Bureaucrats can argue as much as they like but this is an humanitarian crisis that has cost lives and people’s livelihoods.’
The UK has committed to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on aid since 2013. This was made law in 2015 under David Cameron, but Theresa May promised to look again at the definition after criticism of a budget that has now hit £13billion.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited the islands yesterday to meet survivors and survey the damage. He flew out after French president Emmanuel Macron and the Dutch king visited their citizens in the region.
British relief efforts have been criticised as ‘absolutely pathetic’ in comparison with those of France and the Netherlands. Mr Johnson promised more cash.
Boris spoke with locals in Anguilla after their island was devastated by Hurricane Irma last week