British People Put Last: Schools, NHS Face Cuts — But Foreign Aid Budget Increases

A careful analysis of this week’s budget has shown that Government spending on essential services at home such as the NHS and schools will be cut next year — while the foreign aid budget continues to grow.

According to the budget, huge cuts are going to be made in infrastructure provision in Britain over the next four years, from £50 billion this year to £22 billion by the 2013–14 financial year.

Capital expenditure on hospitals and schools currently accounts for £13 billion. This figure is set to drop to £6 billion over the next four years, which translates into a combined cut of more than £20 billion.

This means that despite rising demand, investment in extra wards and other healthcare facilities for British people will be more than halved over the next four years.

At the same time, the foreign aid budget is set to increase from its current £9 billion budget to £13 billion over the next few years.

Recent projects announced by the Department for International Development (the foreign aid section of the UK government) include a £38 million grant aimed at “reducing extreme poverty in 69,000 households” in Zambia and £10 million to “provide stable jobs for workers in Africa.”

In 2007/08 the biggest recipients of DFID’s multilateral aid were the European Commission (EC) which was given £1.2 billion, the World Bank Group which was given £493 million, and assorted UN agencies which were given £296 million.

The Labour government and the Conservative Party have both promised to “ring fence” and increase the foreign aid budget no matter what other cuts in expenditure have to be made.

The cuts to the health service and school infrastructure are even more shocking when they are compared to the ongoing expenditure of at least £3 billion per year on the war in Afghanistan, the billions spent on EU membership and the estimated £4 billion per year spent subsidising ‘asylum seekers’ in Britain.

Only the British National Party will call a halt to this Tory/Labour anti-British madness and ensure that British tax money is first and foremost spent on British people.