The Guardian: What the U.K. election will mean for aid and development: key manifesto vows
“Britain will go to the polls on 8 June with aid and development spending under unprecedented scrutiny. Two years after the U.K. became the first major economy to meet the U.N. target of devoting 0.7 percent of gross national income to aid, the Whitehall vultures are circling. Government departments including the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office are casting covetous glances at the £12bn aid budget, while allegations of wasteful spending on contractors and ill-conceived projects have fueled wider criticism. How are the main parties planning to negotiate this political minefield? Outlined below are the key commitments on aid and development contained in the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat manifestos…” (Ratcliffe, 5/19).