Justine Greening: splitting aid programme would be damaging. Picture: Getty |
by SCOTT MACNAB
SOME of the “world’s poorest people” would suffer from a
Yes vote, Westminster’s International Development Secretary has claimed.
Justine Greening said the contribution of Scottish
charities, universities and institutions are at the heart of the UK’s
international efforts and these have a “far more positive impact” as part of
the Union.
However, the Scottish Government accused the UK minister of
using the world’s poor as a “political football”. The UK’s aid budget currently
stands at £11 billion per year. The SNP has already pledged to spend almost
£1bn a year after a vote for independence.
UK aid spending, through the Scottish-based Department for
International Development (DfID), last year hit 0.7 per cent gross national
income (GNI), making Britain the first in the G8 to reach this key UN target.
The UK has helped 20 million people get access to clean
water in the past three years and 22 million children to be immunised against
killer diseases, Ms Greening said. A further 6 million youngsters in the
developing world have secured a primary school education.
Ms Greening said: “When it comes to the choice that Scotland
faces in September, I firmly believe that splitting our hugely successful aid
programme into two risks diminishing its impact.
“As the world’s second-biggest aid donor, the UK can use
economies of scale to squeeze the maximum value for money out of every penny we
spend, ensuring our money goes further in helping the world’s poorest people.”
The UK is one of only five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council and also has its own place on the board of the World Bank.
This means that the “core values we share across the whole
of the UK are reflected at the top of these global institutions,” Ms Greening
added.
Scotland’s international development minister Humza Yousaf
said: “This is insulting, hypocritical nonsense from Justine Greening, who
should apologize for using the poorest in the world as a political football.”
He added: “The UK comes behind many countries of Scotland’s
size in the Centre for Development’s Commitment to Development Index.
“Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Luxembourg top the index, with
the UK in eighth place after Ireland. That gives the lie to the claims that big
is best in this area and shows what an independent Scotland can aspire to.
“Scotland is more than capable of being a global leader in
international development.”
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