Development

The Department for International Development has been thoroughly incompetent over the airport in St Helena, where I was born.

But all Departments of State have their incompetences. We do not therefore call for them to be abolished. 

It would appear that Priti Patel no longer wants her own entire Department to be abolished. But she still needs to be watched. 

The way to save the absolutely vital 0.7 per cent overseas aid target is to police where the money goes. 

We give aid to China, which has landed a rocket on the Moon.

We also fund India’s foreign aid budget precisely. As a result, India has the money for a mission to Mars. That’s right, Mars. 

We are paying towards Nigeria’s active aspiration to launch a rocket into space by 2028. 

The Statute Law should specify that the United Kingdom’s aid to any given country be reduced by the exact cost of any space programme, or of any nuclear weapons programme, or of any nuclear submarine programme, or of any foreign aid budget of that country’s own.

The money thus saved would, however, have to remain within the budget of the Department for International Development.

With her Nigerian background, the highly capable Kate Osamor is ideally placed to make the case for this change.