Angry critics have denounced foreign aid handouts to countries such as China and Mexico – including funding for an all-female traditional opera in Shanghai as “unacceptable and wrong”.
A study published by the Institute of Economic Affairs today indicated that some of the money allocated from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme actually went to regions with a higher GDP per capita than some parts of the UK.
The report, Robin Hood In Reverse, focuses on aid programmes in Mexico, Malaysia and China.
Two regions of Mexico with regional GDP figures above those of some of the UK’s poorer regions received funding from the UK aid budget between 2019 and 2024 – Campeche and Mexico City.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, had a regional GDP per capita of £21,199 in 2022, which aligns closely with that of Sefton (£21,264), the sixth poorest region in the UK by this measure.
And Shenzhen, with a GDP per capita of £21,512, closely aligns with Southend-on-Sea, which has a GDP per capita of £21,520.
One project, costing £200,165, “focused on reintroducing the traditional Shanghai All-Female Yue Opera to modern urban audiences through digital media at the ‘M50’, a contemporary art district in Shanghai”, the report explained.
It added: “Running until February 2022, the project sought to merge historical cultural forms with contemporary artistic expressions in Shanghai for both cultural and economic development.”
Commenting, Reform UK Chairman, Zia Yusuf told Express.co.uk: “At a time when pensioners who have paid into the system their whole lives are told by this Labour government they no longer get their winter fuel allowance, it is unacceptable that taxpayer’s money is being sent abroad to fund opera in Shanghai.
“It’s clear that Keir Starmer’s Labour have no interest in delivering value for money for the British public, instead they’re focussed on wasting taxpayers’ money, trampling our freedoms and delivering for their donors in the Trade Unions.
“Reform UK has made a clear commitment to cut foreign aid spending to prioritise improving quality of life for British people”.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be outraged to see their hard-earned cash doled out to people often better off than themselves.
“While most people support disaster relief efforts this money is going towards areas already more prosperous than parts of the UK.
“Ministers must ensure aid spending only goes to those truly in need.”
An FCDO spokesman said: “This report is based on allocations made under the last Government. This Government’s development mission is to create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.”