By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Published: 9:00PM BST 22 Aug 2010

Mr Mitchell has called the between nations community’s response to the devastating monsoon floods that have artificial a slice of Pakistan the size of England woefully inadequate Photo: AP

Andrew Mitchell, whose £7.3 billion budget has been ring-fenced by the Coalition powers that be, said good government in recipient countries with mineral wealth was animate to the integrity of the aid budget.

“Achieving transparency in the exploiting. see the verb of mineral resources is one of the most fundamental aspects of growth,” he said.

 

Related Articles

British cabinet ministers airlifted to close custody after Pakistan aid convoy attack

Incompetent teachers are a burden forward their colleagues

British troops are propping up a corrupt government in Afghanistan

Barack Obama 'breaks four befriend pledges for Africa'

Betraying the loyal Gurkhas is yet any other symptom of moral decay

Barack Obama told: help Pakistan or jeopard a repeat of 9/11 in America or Britain

“If our taxpayers are supporting lack reduction strategies in countries with significant resources interests that are not being used in the family’s interest, that will bring our use of taxpayers’ coin into massive disrepute.”

The Department for International Development (DFID) has uncommon concerns over Sierra Leone, where Britain has been closely involved in population building since a military intervention in 2000.

The government of President Ernest Koroma has been accused of defilement in recent mining deals. “I’m watching particularly carefully by what means Sierra Leone intends to exploit its mineral [resources]. It is each important issue that requires openness and transparency and if not I am prepared to act.”

As the singly major department with an expanding budget, DFID is braced for its activities to arrive under intense scrutiny over the Coalition lifespan.

The severity of bulwark cuts has put Mr Mitchell under pressure to devote more funds to interfere zones. A recent leaked email that proposed axing 80 large-ascend spending commitments was seized on by charities as evidence that the bearing of spending would radically change.

Mr Mitchell rejects the charge that growth goals would be downgraded but added that foreign aid has a intersecting role in shaping Britain’s national security. “DFID is at the midst of national security. Is Britain’s security best defended ~ means of a tank on the ground or training policemen in Afghanistan, or a warship opposite the Horn of Africa or 100,000 schoolchildren getting a new education?” he said. “Tackling the problem of instability upstream is with respect to tackling the symptoms of a problem not the outcomes.”

The 54-year-aged last week visited Pakistan, which is about to become the biggest receiver of foreign aid.

He said: “The timing of the settlement to increase aid just before the floods grants us an opportunity to court Pakistan’s problems to help ensure we won’t bear to cope with grave consequences.”

That foreign aid improves provisions at home is the kind of argument that Labour rarely had to get on horseback even as it tripled foreign aid in 13 years in ability. But Mr Mitchell knows that the department will have to vogue further to bear the strains of additional scrutiny.

All 90 general aid programmes have been put under review and Mr Mitchell has pressed in advance with a plan to establish an independent watchdog to evaluate programmes.

“As we cope by the appalling economic crisis the Coalition has inherited, we are going to be seized of to justify our spending 24/7 so British people are over-weening of our role around the world,” he said.

Email

Print