Hi John,
I can imagine that this year has been hugely challenging for you and your loved ones, as it has been for me. The pandemic has tested every aspect of our lives and put our public services under even more strain. At this time, it might feel hard to look beyond the UK, but Covid-19 has also highlighted the stark reality of global inequality.
For example, at the start of the pandemic, Mali shockingly had just 20 ventilators for a population of 19 million people. In Haiti, there were only 64 ventilators for 11 million people.
I know that as a supporter of Global Justice Now, you’d want to see our aid budget spent on tackling drastic inequalities like these. But instead, too much aid is being used to fund unaffordable private hospitals and schools, and to grow the UK’s economic power abroad. And just this week, the government is considering slashing the overall budget by billions, reducing the 0.7% target to 0.5%.
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Can you donate £3 today to defend the aid budget and stop aid money going to private corporations overseas?
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Big business is pocketing UK aid money
Shockingly, across the global south, our aid money is going into dirty fossil fuel projects, luxury hotels, high-end food chains and private schools and hospitals, which are unaffordable for the majority.
These projects and companies worsen inequalities and undermine human rights and environmental protections – spending like this has to end.
But demanding that aid is spent on the right things doesn’t mean the aid budget itself should be cut. We have fought for many years for an aid budget that recognises the scale of the fight against global poverty, and the UK’s special responsibility to fund it. We must demand both that it is protected and that it is used for good.
Can you help us urgently sound the alarm over this latest attack on the aid budget, and make sure our government spends aid on tackling inequality, not investing in big business?
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Aid money is building Empire 2.0
The likes of Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg have hailed Brexit as a chance to build ‘Global Britain’, harking back to the wealth and power of the British Empire – while neglecting to mention its crimes. The investment of aid money in corporate ventures is a way of once more promoting British interests overseas, a model which has been hailed as ‘Empire 2.0’.
This model takes wealth away from countries in the global south, making it harder for them to provide much-needed public services, like healthcare and education. It promotes big business and a free-market agenda, cutting welfare protections, regulations and workers’ rights, and doing little to help ordinary people. It is exactly the opposite of what aid money should be spent on.
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Together we can fight for all aid money to be used for good
Post-Brexit, when Britain’s place in the world is up for debate, it’s vital that people like you and me stand against Empire 2.0. By donating today, you can help us expose this awful misuse of aid money, fight for the budget to be protected, and push for aid to be spent on growing strong public services, tackling climate change and closing inequalities.
As Covid-19 is shaking the world around us, now more than ever, it’s vital that aid money is spent on the kind of services that protect lives and help re-build society. While this is a hugely trying time, it’s also an opportunity for a better world.
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Thank you for all you do for our campaigns.
In solidarity
Daniel Willis
Aid campaigner at Global Justice Now
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PS. Our government is pouring billions of aid money into fossil fuel infrastructure, malls, luxury hotels, and private healthcare and schools. Please donate today to help stop this misuse of aid.
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