Barbados has been caught in the middle of a perceived row between angry taxpayers in Britain under the weight of a prolonged recession and attempts by that country’s government to cut wastage in its development aid channelled through the European Union to some countries.
The British tabloid The Daily Mail charged in a recent article that “rich countries” like Barbados and China were getting millions in British financial assistance and this was being characterized as a waste of British tax dollars.
According to the article, which has now been picked up by other British publications: “Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are being used to fund aid projects in wealthy countries such as Brazil, China, Iceland and Barbados, despite a Coalition pledge that money would be targeted at only the most needy.
“Britain contributes to a European development aid budget which spends half its funds on middle and higher income nations.” (GE)
