Analyse af Rob Bailey, Chatham House
I 2013 hævede Storbritannien udviklingsbistanden til 0,7 procent af BNI. I befolkningen er der skepsis overfor den høje bistand men de tre store partier står sammen om at fortsætte kursen.
In August 2014, Chatham House conducted its fourth survey with YouGov, which tracks trends in attitudes to international affairs in the UK among both the general public and opinion formers in senior roles across multiple sectors. Chatham House is highlighting some of the findings from the survey ahead of the publication of the main report later this month.
In 2013, the UK coalition government increased spending on overseas aid from 0.56% of GNI to 0.72%, fulfilling a commitment made in the coalition agreement and placing the UK among a small group of donor countries – the so-called G07 – to have reached the internationally accepted 0.7% aid target.
Doing so had cross-party support from Labour (which set the commitment when last in government) the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, but the 2014 Chatham House-YouGov survey indicates the policy is unlikely to be a vote winner.
Although 30% of voters would hold aid spending at current levels, over half (54%) of voters agree with the statement that the UK ‘spends too much on aid. In difficult economic times we should spend more money at home.’
The percentage rises to 62 % among Conservative voters and 87% among UKIP voters, demonstrating the policy’s unpopularity on the right of the electorate where the Conservatives are under pressure to defend their share of the vote from an ascendant UKIP.
Læs hele af analysen på Chatham House’ websted
