As the UK faces the challenges of the modern world, effective international development is seen as an important tool for pursuing the country's national interest. But the political debate has persistently revolved around whether Britain should retain the 0.7 per cent aid target it committed to law in 2015. While the TaxPayers’ Alliance has long opposed the target, in the meantime fresh thinking is required to tackle the orthodoxy that has developed around aid policy. Every pound must be spent as effectively as possible to protect taxpayers' interests.
Our new research - First aid: fixing international development - analyses Britain’s international development system and examines the structures and rules that govern how the aid budget is spent, to identify what potential reforms could be implemented, to ensure the 0.7 per cent target can be made more relevant and justifiable to British taxpayers. The report was launched with remarks from former Secretary of State, Rt Hon Priti Patel MP.