LONDON — The British government, faced with the need to make drastic cuts in government expenditure, has nevertheless decided to ring-fence the overseas aid budget and has pledged to continue to work toward the U.N. target of providing aid equivalent to 0.7 percent of GDP.
All the British political parties endorse this aim, but there are many critical voices. At a time of enforced austerity, why should overseas aid be exempted from cuts? Shouldn't the old adage "charity begins at home" apply?
There are plenty of valid counterarguments. Countries receiving British aid have much smaller GDP per capita than Britain and suffer from widespread poverty. A common sense of humanity should induce us to give aid to the poorest countries.