Taxpayers fund Chinese opera as foreign aid handed to overseas regions richer than parts of UK
British foreign aid has bankrolled Chinese opera, cycle lanes in Mexico and road schemes in Malaysia, after being handed out to overseas regions richer than parts of the UK.
More than £3 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent in affluent foreign neighbourhoods as poor areas of Britain face funding shortages.
Projects paid for include an all-female traditional Chinese opera in Shanghai, anti-congestion measures in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, and a cycle lane in Mexico City.
The revelations, which have been called a “Robin Hood in reverse” policy, fuelled demands for changes to the foreign aid rules to end the abuse of public money.
It came after Labour vowed in its manifesto to restore the international development budget to 0.7 per cent of GDP as soon as it was affordable.
A report by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) found aid money had funded 13 projects in eight neighbourhoods that are richer than parts of Britain.
The research identified those areas by comparing their recent GDP per capita with that of Ards and North Down, a local government district in Northern Ireland – the poorest UK region. Five of the projects were in China, two were in Mexico and one was in Malaysia.
Mark Tovey, the author of the report, said: “Taxing hard-working people in left-behind Britain to fund projects in affluent regions abroad is a policy of Robin Hood in reverse.
“We urgently need to reevaluate our aid priorities to ensure that UK taxpayers’ money supports the world’s poorest, focusing on stamping out infectious diseases, ending hunger, and genuinely lifting those in desperate need out of poverty.”
Just over £200,000 was spent on a project to support the Shanghai all-female Yue Opera between November 2018 and February 2022. China’s biggest city has an average GDP per capita of £19,520, which is on a par with that of Redbridge and Waltham Forest in north-east London.
Ards and North Down has a GDP per capita of £17,635.
In Shenzhen, a £200,000 arts project ran from November 2018 to February 2021 “focusing on the commercialisation of rural crafts within city economies”. The southern Chinese city, which is close to Hong Kong, produces GDP per capita of £21,512. Elsewhere £244,061 was spent in Kuala Lumpur from April 2018 to December 2020 to help cut congestion by improving public transport.
Money from a £60 million foreign aid fund for Mexico was spent in the capital, which has a GDP per capita figure of £1,650 higher than Ards and North Down.
One initiative recommended making temporary cycle lanes in Mexico City permanent whilst another project taught people about online banking.
The spending occurred because foreign aid is allocated on the basis of an entire country’s wealth and does not take into account regional differences.
In its report, the IEA recommended changing the rules to add a second check, which would mean cash could not be sent to the most affluent areas.
The revelations will ignite fresh controversy about the foreign aid budget at a time when Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is cutting domestic spending. Britain is still sending about £8 million a year to China, the world’s second largest economy, although that figure has tumbled from the £82 million spent in 2019.