badlad Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 UK commits further £70m to Pakistan for flood relief Two men in flood waters Millions of people have been affected by the flood waters in large parts of Pakistan The UK is doubling its aid to Pakistan to help with the recovery from its devastating floods, pledging an extra £70m on top of £64m already committed. Yes this is a great cause, but who is helping us? Was this really necessary considering all the cut backs and jobs losses due? :Struggle: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 A bit of perspective needed here... There are millions of people with absolutely nothing in Pakistan, and we donate £70million... EVERY day the UK government borrows £480 million, and EVERY day over £200million is handed out in benefits to keep up to 7 million people watching their widescreen TV's... And funnily enough for £70million, you can just about buy a Eurofighter - without a pilot or running costs of course...! I know where that paltry amount of money is most needed... :Winky: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepper Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 i`ve left the tap running at work and flooded the back prep area :Blush: will the government help me with aid or do i just have to get on with it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloneword Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 I know this sounds strange but Sparks is right, but having said that i agree with badlad, before we worry about others i do this the UK needs to think of the UK first, as me ma always used to say charity begins at home. All1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
densh1 Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Charity begins at home this country is bankrupt yet these idiots are still forking out millions of pounds of our money ,To pay for the popes visit Pakistan aid etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derren Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Charity begins at home this country is bankrupt yet these idiots are still forking out millions of pounds of our money ,To pay for the popes visit Pakistan aid etc etc. completely agree with you buddy and today I have sent a letter to Andrew Mitchell, International Development Secretary questioning these donations when only a few weeks back cameron said that Pakistan breeds terrorism and why we should pay when Pakistan spends $5.18 billion on defence. This has gone to his secretary to be passed on to him. Derren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 pakistan aid money is ok imo, since we all get 'aid' despite our 'outgoings'...What about the benefit claimant who spends his/her dosh on booze/tv's/fags etc? What we should be doing is making sure that the money gets to the right people, and that is no more relevant there than here in the uk! But the pope can pay for himself out of the vaticans f*cking pocket money... after all we're talking 'god's bankers' aren't we?... :Winky: Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuit Eater Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Pakistan spends $5.18 billion on defence. yes thats what concerns me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 yes thats what concerns me Does that mean that any country which wishes to defend itself gets no aid? Pakistan is particularly interesting, since it was the British that caused the pakistan/india conflict in the first place with it's indiscriminate partioning of the country...and who are part of the coalition that has driven the Taliban to be more of a threat within the country ! Plus their military is at the forefront of any disaster relief, as ours is in times of need because they are the only ones to have the expertise. The UK spends £35billion on 'defence', although a lot of that is being used 'offensively' atm - and yet we are reliant on aid too... Oh of course it's not called that, but we are £3 trillion in hock to mainly foreign countries who very kindly allow us to continue to borrow whilst we engage in sometimes illegal wars! It's not always black and white! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloneword Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Pakistan is particularly interesting, since it was the British that caused the pakistan/india conflict in the first place with it's indiscriminate partioning of the country...True but when is enough enough? I'm 44 years of age and all i can remember is always giving even as a kid through blue peter and stuff like that, seriously are you saying we should always give because as you say yourself were in deep sh1t ourselves, and i think this is peoples point, why should we be helping others when we find it hard to help our own people, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you to tune in next month for more info after the spending review comes out :Hmm: All1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 True but when is enough enough? I'm 44 years of age and all i can remember is always giving even as a kid through blue peter and stuff like that, seriously are you saying we should always give because as you say yourself were in deep sh1t ourselves, and i think this is peoples point, why should we be helping others when we find it hard to help our own people, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you to tune in next month for more info after the spending review comes out :Hmm: All1 I was replying to the point about defence spending, and some of the reason's for it...and as for 'when is enough enough', we're doing our best to create more instability in Pakistan right now due to our activities over the border! But imo it doesn't really come into it whatever the timescale, as almost every country in the world has some form of defence spending...should any country not give aid to another just because it doesn't like their shopping list? And guess who sells the best part of £50m ayear of weapons to pakistan anyway... :Winky: But besides, do you think the average pakistani who actually gets to choose what weapons are bought? - because we sure as hell don't here! And although our lives could be eased somewhat, everyone one in this country has access to basic facilities that they could just dream about even before the floods! So I'd rather see a paultry amount of aid going there, rather than the billions wasted on our indigenous scroungers!! (I could go on about why a lot of countries need aid because of the unfair way they are dealt with by the developed world, but that's another topic... :Winky: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloneword Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Yea i see the point your making but what gets my back up is how the old folks who have paid into this country are going to get free bus passes/tv license/cold weather payments taken away from them (spending review will shed more light on this wonderful govt's way of dealing with stuff) and yet we are giving ££ away sure it may not be much in the scheme of things but it still gripes. As for £50M in arms deals is that the whole budget or just the back handers :He-he: All1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 I appreciate what you're saying All1, but it is as you say, not much... And how much of those winter payments/bus passes/tv licences etc go to people who don't need it? I know my mum doesn't, but it's hers to claim so she does...that amount just for one person would probably build several houses in pakistan! The 'sparks philosophy' is that for every £1 you use on aid (if correctly administered), you save £10 in the war/peace keeping you end up doing instead! And that is simply because you pay for weapons at western rates, but aid buys so much more at third world levels... I'm happy to put my £1.20 in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloneword Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 And how much of those winter payments/bus passes/tv licences etc go to people who don't need it? I know my mum doesn't, but it's hers to claim so she does...that amount just for one person would probably build several houses in Pakistan! Sure i feel these kinds of benefits should be means testsed to some degree but trouble with that is im sure some would see it as begging and there is no way some would even ask for it, hard one. I'm happy to put my £1.20 in... :He-he: :Winky: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Sure i feel these kinds of benefits should be means testsed to some degree but trouble with that is im sure some would see it as begging and there is no way some would even ask for it, hard one. That's always been the problem with means testing...those entitled are put off by the 'label', but those who aren't just lie because they don't care! However, I've got a feeling (as you insinuated about october) that the next decade or so is going to change all that! We're lucky in that we have never had to claim any benefits (apart from the so-called tax credits), and have done our share of holding down several jobs at a time...but we still have a mortgage, and yet see many who have done virtually nothing seemingly better off...and if we have a run of bad luck we (like many) could be f*cked because the safety net doesn't apply to us! And as is often the case, who is the mug? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Just a thought... Apparently not far short of the government figure has also been raised by the public, and not just from the pakistani community... This without the fanfare of say something like 'children in need'. So does it not at least give an idea that a sizeable percentage of the population do wish to help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuit Eater Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 all benefits should be means tested. Campaigners may bang on about people wrongly claiming benefits because they're working or they're not that ill, but the savings would be a pittance in comparison to if you means tested child benefit - even millionaires receive it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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