David Cameron tells G8 cuts to aid

Published on Friday 27 May 2011 19:36

David Cameron has dismissed criticism over rises in aid spending while Britain endures austerity measures.

The Prime Minister insisted he was "proud" that the UK would not "balance its books on the back of the poorest", and warned that failing to support countries at the forefront of the Arab Spring would "give oxygen to extremists".

At a press conference at the end of the G8 summit in France yesterday, Mr Cameron also made clear his frustration that other wealthy nations were not fulfilling pledges on aid.

"Britain will keep its promises, and I was tough in urging my counterparts to do the same," he said. "The reality is that as a whole the G8 has not."

He added: "Of course it is a tough argument to make when we are making tough choices at home, but I think it's the right thing."

Mr Cameron said he remembered watching Band Aid and Live Aid on television, and the impact those events had.

Referring to the G8 pledge of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid by 2015, Mr Cameron said: "These things matter and if we are going to try to get across to the poorest people in the world that we care … then we have got to keep our promises."

Mr Cameron said: "The big test for the G8 was whether we could respond to the momentous events that we have seen in North Africa and the Middle East. I would argue that we have responded.

"There are those that argue that these North African countries, they are not the poorest in the world, and we should concentrate either on our own affairs, or indeed elsewhere.

"I reject that approach. We should be in no doubt that if we get this wrong, if we fail to support these countries, we risk giving oxygen to the extremists who prey on the frustrations and aspirations of young people.

"You would see, I believe, if we fail, more terrorism, more immigration and more instability coming from Europe's southern border."

The two-day summit in Deauville was dominated by the response to the Arab Spring and the situation in Libya.

Mr Cameron previously warned that failing to help countries implementing democratic reforms could create "poisonous extremism" and a wave of immigration.

He has announced that the UK is allocating 110 million over four years to strengthen justice systems, cut corruption, encourage political parties, and broaden economic opportunities.

Aides claimed that, relative to the UK's economy, the commitment was in line with a $1 billion debt relief package unveiled by America.

After the prime ministers of Egypt and Tunisia briefed G8 leaders yesterday, the final declaration from the summit included a suggestion that multilateral development banks could provide the nations with more than 12bn over the next two years.G8 countries were "already in a position to mobilise substantial bilateral support to scale-up this effort", it said.

The document also delivered a strong statement that Muammar al-Gaddafi "has no future in a free, democratic Libya".

The declaration claimed that the nations were "strongly committed" to meeting pledges on aid levels, and being "transparent" about how much they were giving.

However, Mr Cameron is said to have pointed out in a private session earlier that the UK was the only country firmly on track to meet a target for giving 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2015.

Mr Cameron delivered an impassioned defence of Britain's aid spending.

"I cannot guarantee the Italians or the Germans or whoever else will meet the promises that they make," he said.

"But I think what people think about these summits is that frankly a bunch of people in suits get together, make some promises, particularly to the world's poorest, and then go in and have a good lunch and forget about the promises.

"I am not going to do that. We made a promise."