Andrew Mitchell: International aid is necessary
Former cabinet member Andrew Mitchell MP has been making the case for international aid on a visit to the Black Country.
Currently British taxpayers fund international development to the value of 0.7 per cent of the whole of the country's GDP.
So with increasing pressure on personal and national budgets, the former Secretary of State for International Development and Chief Whip was invited to Willenhall to explain why he feels international aid is necessary.
He fielded questions from those who were sceptical and supportive during the meeting on Friday night at Willenhall Community Hub on Gomer Street, after an invite from prospective Walsall North Conservative Parliamentary candidate Douglas Hansen-Luke.
Mr Mitchell said: "The British international development budget contributes directly to our own security and prosperity - it's not just aid from Britain, it's aid for Britain.
"Britain's security is not only maintained by our brilliant armed forces, it's also secured by training the police in Afghanistan, or building government structures in the Middle East.
"Those things make Britain more secure and stable and are funded from international development."
MP for Sutton Coldfield Mr Mitchell, who resigned from cabinet last year after the 'Plebgate' affair, said that 0.7 per cent of GDP was fair because it is what has been promised by the country.
He added: "I'm incredibly proud to serve for a government that gives that to the poorest people in the world.
"The level is right, and we've got to make sure every single day the money is well spent so we can look the British taxpayer in the eye, and reassure them that for every hard earned pound we are getting 100 pence of value on the ground."
He said the key to public support was ensure that the taxpayer knows the money is well spent, as he said Britain's generosity to international development is displayed every year in the amount it gives to Comic Relief.
Mr Hansen-Luke told the meeting that Britain is the only G8 country to meet the target of 0.7 per cent of its GDP being spent on international development, and credited Mr Mitchell with helping to bring that about.
The MP will now be touring the country to speak at similar meetings along with the Conservative Friends of International Development.
