The storm surrounding Andrew Mitchell continues to grow, with the Financial Times today reporting that Whitehall officials were drawing up plans to reclassify energy department programmes as aid. Aid for climate change is a controversial issue, with many in thetest
Serious questions need to be asked about David Cameron’s committment to international development: Where is the vision? Where is the leadership? Where is the ambition?
Yesterday we reported on the leaked DfID documents outlining up to 100 projects that may be scrapped, as part of their crusade on ‘output’ based aid; now there is confusion over whether a key commitment on aid effectiveness has been scrapped or not.
The leaked DfID document raises important questions about Andrew Mitchell’s ‘output-based’ approach. How will progress be made without the commitments? What is so broken that needs fixing?
In his first major speech since leaving office, Gordon Brown called for Africa to be at the heart of a new global growth strategy, aided by a mass roll out of broadband.
The prime minister came to the summits “with a clear commitment to make sure these summits deliver for people. Too often, these international meetings fail to live up to the hype and the promises made” – yet according to The Guardian, Downing Street admitted that he had simply “not fought” for the commitments to be included during the negotiations.
This week saw the first International Development questions of the new coalition government; unfortunately it revealed the Conservatives are already fudging their promises on aid.
The prime minister and deputy prime minister have been called on to adopt a “New Politics of the Future”, where long term threats are not ignored by short-termism.
The Coalition’s Programme for Government saw the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Tory and Lib Dem manifesto pledges on international development.
Yesterday the first cuts at DfID were announced by the new Conservative administration.
