UK taxpayers are on the hook for millions of pounds to promote contraception in Pakistan. A staggering £74.33 million is being splashed on a project to “promote the sale of branded contraceptives through shops and pharmacies.” Think condoms in shop windows…
Another £13.44 million is going towards “identifying cultural barriers to modern contraceptives.” This is all part of the Foreign Office’s £111 million “Accelerating Family Planning in Pakistan” programme, according to research by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. The scheme began in 2017, runs until 2028, and was most recently reviewed under Labour last November. Something about cutting “waste” from the foreign aid budget comes to mind…
UPDATE: Callum McGoldrick of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“Ministers need to do a far better job at protecting taxpayer cash given the Chancellor is set to demand Brits cough up ever more at the upcoming budget.”
Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns told Times Radio she would have put a precondition on a China trip if she were PM:
“I would have put a precondition that I was not going to go if I was prime minister, unless Jimmy Lai was coming home with me. I would also put a precondition in the six months leading up to the visit that I wanted a reduction in hostile acts against our country. But that’s not what we saw. And actually, in contrast, what we saw was clearly the Chinese Communist Party did put a precondition, which was that the new embassy in London had to be signed off. So why is it okay for China to set preconditions and to make very clear red lines about what they require for a visit, but we go without having put any ourselves?”