News from Labour Matters

Tories plan raiding international development budget for military spending

Tribune magazine reports that David Cameron is planning to break another promise if he wins the general election by diverting parts of the international development budget, which he claimed would be protected from cuts, to supplement defence spending instead:

“David Cameron has pledged to ring fence the international development budget as part of the new ‘compassionate Conservatism’ agenda. However, according to the latest issue of the privately-circulated Conservative Intelligence magazine, the party is so desperate to avoid making cuts to the defence budget that it is working on a way to use money earmarked for overseas aid to boost defence spending.

Writing in the magazine, Tim Montgomerie, editor of the ConservativeHome website, says: “One never quashed rumour is that the Tories may use part of the international aid budget to pay for British troops when they are involved in peacekeeping roles or in the delivery of humanitarian relief.”

Effectively what this means is that, instead of money being expanded on improving health and schooling, or providing water, it would go on military spending.”

Read the full article.

Other news from Labour Matters

• Viewers turned off by soft-soap Cameron - 15 March 2010
• Labour releases powerful film on Conservative crime choices - 9 March 2010
• David Cameron's claim to have changed the Tories is exposed as hot air - 7 March 2010