Bongo Bongo land

[billybiro]

They buy all those things with just £280 million? Feck me, they must be deal-doing geniuses.

Britain’s £280 million aid to India will be scrapped - Telegraph

You are a fooking cretin.

I wouldn't be so sure they couldn't make that money go further. Like when Japan/Korea hosted the world cup in 2002 and Japan was able to build around half a dozen or so stadiums from scratch (with fancy closing roofs as well) for the same price that it cost the UK to build just one Wembley.

Some other countries do have the ability to spend money wisely and not p*ss half of it away on over-priced contractors, "bonuses" to management and stuffed-full brown envelopes to "grease the wheels" so to speak. If you want all these things, the UK takes some beating.

[Mich the Tester]

Some other countries do have the ability to spend money wisely and not p*ss half of it away on over-priced contractors

These do not exist. You are clearly talking bollocks; please desist.

[vetran]

Given that we have established that Bongos come from Cuba so its a totally imaginary land, I wonder if a similar response would have ensued if a non white person had referred to Never-Never land?

Personally I think Aid is nothing more than a cynical bribe to the dishonest (mainly, some are just incompetent) regimes that keep their population in poverty.

We should replace it with a defined project to bring the lands up to a humane level. A lot can be done for nothing but a good dose of faith (not necessary religious) and enthusiasm.

[Mich the Tester]

Given that we have established that Bongos come from Cuba so its a totally imaginary land, I wonder if a similar response would have ensued if a non white person had referred to Never-Never land?

Personally I think Aid is nothing more than a cynical bribe to the dishonest (mainly, some are just incompetent) regimes that keep their population in poverty.

We should replace it with a defined project to bring the lands up to a humane level. A lot can be done for nothing but a good dose of faith (not necessary religious) and enthusiasm.

Migrants have been replacing aid with something much more effective; remittances that go straight to the family and help to build up family businesses. Unfortunately they're now suffering from western banking regulations;

BBC News - Mo Farah joins campaign for Barclays to keep cash transfers

Having said that, aid is becoming more effective too as aid organisations learn what works and what doesn't work in different societies.

[vetran]

Migrants have been replacing aid with something much more effective; remittances that go straight to the family and help to build up family businesses. Unfortunately they're now suffering from western banking regulations;

BBC News - Mo Farah joins campaign for Barclays to keep cash transfers

Having said that, aid is becoming more effective too as aid organisations learn what works and what doesn't work in different societies.

Indeed much good work is done with faith and enthusiasm.

I was only talking about our Aid program though as frankly its a disgrace.

[amcdonald]

Indeed much good work is done with faith and enthusiasm.

I was only talking about our Aid program though as frankly its a disgrace.

To be fair most countries use foreign aid as a bribe for their countries corporations to be able to bribe their way into procurement contracts by the back door

[Mich the Tester]

Indeed much good work is done with faith and enthusiasm.

I was only talking about our Aid program though as frankly its a disgrace.

The aid programs need to try and work along with the migrants who know the local situation; really effective aid is often a small scale thing, not the old fashioned approach of trying to build infrastructure for a whole country. But what do you find disgraceful about the UK's aid program?

[vetran]

The aid programs need to try and work along with the migrants who know the local situation; really effective aid is often a small scale thing, not the old fashioned approach of trying to build infrastructure for a whole country. But what do you find disgraceful about the UK's aid program?

To be fair most countries use foreign aid as a bribe for their countries corporations to be able to bribe their way into procurement contracts by the back

that and the fact it underpins immoral regimes.

[Mich the Tester]

that and the fact it underpins immoral regimes.

I know that aid is given in some countries with pretty unsavoury regimes, but that's the reality of providing aid where people need it. Some aid arguably underpins immoral or at best incompetent regimes, like food aid in the great lakes regions (which shouldn't be necessary there), but then education programs that bring literacy to the same people could be said to be undermining unsavoury regimes; trouble is, if you want kids to go to school, you'll need to make sure they get something to eat.

It's not a simple goodies and baddies game. Sometimes you have to do business with the bad guys to help the good guys. Sometimes the bad guys will outsmart you, sometimes they won't.

[sasguru]

now now

youre not including all the hidden aid to India, the uncapped ICT work visas we give them, the tax dispensations we give their big organisations here, the intellectual property we invented which they have been given, and so on

It's probably guilt for the fact that we took an area that contributed 25% of world GDP and bled it dry so that by the time we left it was merely 3% of world GDP.
TBH the Indians have done to well to come back so strongly after just 50 years.