The decision by the UK Government to slash foreign aid is being widely criticised as penny-pinching. We believe this misses the point.
Surely the decision is not about saving cash at all, but part of a deliberate strategy to let private donors such as Gates, and corporate-inspired initiatives such as Nutrition for Growth (N4G) take over – knowing that the humanitarian image will give them even more power and influence. At a time when poverty rates, economic disparity, conflicts and hunger are rising, yet more predatory marketing, short-term medicalised treatment ‘solutions’ and most worryingly, commercial infiltration of the policy-setting space can only make things worse and certainly won’t lead to real sustainable changes.