Published in The Observer (26th August, 2012) Think of Ethiopia and what do you see. Perhaps a starving child, flies in her eyes and belly distended. Painfully thin adults […]
Aid / Ghana
African village where every household is getting £7,500 from British taxpayers spent on them
Published in The Daily Mail (June 30th, 2012) As I drew up in the bustling village after a long journey, the last 21 miles bouncing along a red […]
Africa / Aid / General
Bob Geldof’s obsession with aid hurt Africa. But now trade is healing the scars
Published in The Independent (May 28th, 2012) I first became aware of Bob Geldof in 1977 when I bought the debut single by The Boomtown Rats. In those […]
Aid / Europe / European Union / Iceland
Iceland owes us billions. Why on earth is the EU giving millions of our money in aid?
Published in The Daily Mail (March 8th, 2012) For all its recent problems, Iceland remains a prosperous place. Visiting there a few months ago, I was struck by […]
Aid
The aid business has grown fat. It’s time there was proper scrutiny
Published in The Spectator (February 18th, 2012) Such a simple question: should Oxfam spend a couple of hundred pounds a month opening up the swimming pool at its […]
Aid / Haiti / World
Haiti and the shaming of the aid zealots
Published in the Daily Mail (January 27th, 2011) The first thing that strikes you is the smell: a sweet, sickly stench that sticks to your skin. It is […]
Africa / Aid / Somaliland
The former British colony that shows Africa doesn’t need our millions to flourish
Published in The Mail on Sunday (July 24th, 2011) The Summer Time restaurant was buzzing. On the dusty road outside, new four-wheel drive cars fought for space with […]
Aid
Ten great myths about foreign aid
Published in the Daily Mail (July 7th, 2011) As he pledged to pour hundreds of millions more into propping up Afghanistan, David Cameron accused critics of his foreign […]
Aid
Despite our noble intentions, aid does not solve problems – it just makes them worse
Published in the Daily Mail (May 18th, 2011) The Marriott Hotel in Islamabad symbolises Pakistan’s profound problems with terrorism and its amazing spirit of survival. Three years ago, […]
Aid
Western aid now does more harm than good
Published in the London Evening Standard (March 1st, 2011) As Harry Truman’s team prepared his inaugural presidential address in late 1948, there was concern that the section on […]