Guido reckons Andrew Mitchell has gone native at DFID. I have evidence to the contrary. This very day, for the first time ever in the history of Dfid, a huge picture has gone up in the main reception. Of Her Majesty the Queen!
To my mind, Mitchell has been one of the success stories of the coalition. A man on top of his brief who has shaken up his department and completely reconfigured our aid policy. And if anyone really thinks he has gone native, they should read his speech to the LSE on wealth creation. Very sound.
Having said all of that, I still don't think the DFID budget should have been ringfenced...
If he truly had not "gone native" he would have put in place the winding up of the entire department and handing the budget back to the Treasury.
ReplyDeleteDo you think we should promise to spend a fix part of our GDP on development though?
ReplyDeleteHow much did the picture cost?
ReplyDeleteAn open letter about the ring fencing of DfID's budget which people can use as a starting point when writing to their MP is available at a-nest-of-procyon-lotor*.
ReplyDelete* A nest of Raccoons
I met Mr Mitchell when he came to look around a project in Cambridge and do some campaigning for our candidate Nick Hillman. I was very impressed with him and his green paper for DFID. More power to his elbow.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you about the DFID INCREASED budget...At a time we are throwing good people out of work this is an insult and an obscenity...Only last week a report showed how aid money went straight into the pockets of Ethiopian politicos...Mitchell needs a firm grip on the worlds dictators first....fat chance..just money down the drain
ReplyDeleteThere are some of us out here who don't think DfID should exist at all in its current form, let alone have its budget ringfenced. There's nothing that DfID does that could not be done just as well by a small (20 person) unit within the Foreign Office. Abolition would show we are serious about cuts.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, he's still a tory
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/31/andrew-mitchell-ghana-cocoa-armajaro
I'm with Jimmy ... We've been following this story at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139644409397559 since July. Something doesn't smell right ...
ReplyDelete