To think Gordon Brown has got it so wrong?

[clarea1]

To pledge £6 million to the Haiti government following earthquake. I appreciate the funds are to help those in the wake of a horrendous natural disaster but I am wrong to think that our country in rather in need of £6 million and in a bit of a crap financial position.

Don't get me wrong I can't even begin to grasp the devastation and I support all the charitable efforts by organisations such as christian aid but this country is in a mess and it is us that are paying the price and facing tax increases etc to foot the bill.

All views welcome!

YABU. How can you think like that? We have a finanical crisis that we will get out of, they have had their lives turned upside down. Which is more deserving?
Six million is nothing compared to what the Government was prepared to loan/possibly lose to the banks. We should be trying to help as much as we can.
Very sad attitude OP.

what an idiotic op

£6 million = around 10p per person. I can afford 10p more tax (or let's say 25p to cover my children). You mean you can't, OP?

YABVU. What do we need, as a nation or individuals, in comparison to the needs of the people of Haiti?

YABU.

they need it more than we do.

Well, for starters, we draw the line when a natural disaster instantly wipes out a huge chunk of the population and devastates the lives of the rest.

But we do give billions in aid to help poverty stricken countries in the third world. Surely they can't be expected to lose out because of an unforeseen natural disaster, and surely the people of Haiti need the help. Where should we draw the line? Here. 'Can they afford to fix this themselves? No? Fine, we'll help'. Cos however knackered our economy is, we're still infinitely richer than them.

I'm glad we're helping. My only concern is that the money won't get to the people that need it. Haiti is one ofthe most corrupt countries in the world.

What DuelingFanjo said, they need it FAR more than we do. Think of it this way: who can make better use the 6m better at the moment? Us or them?

YABVVVVVVU.

thanks for that link Stewie, this is making me fucking angry.

When money goes to givernments it goes where they want it to - like Nancy66 says.

Chartable organisations such as Oxfam etc go in there and work directly with the people to rebuild there communities and given medical care.

Is that not a better way? I would rather make my own donation than the government make it for me.

I did not at any time say the people of Haiti were not worthy of aid or undeserving.

No, you said that we needed the money more than they did = fucking awful. You did not say that the money should have been administered differently = reasonable.
Stop backpedalling.

I cannot even believe you could question giving these desperate people help. Seriously. Did you see the news tonight - the woman screaming for her husband while staring at the pile of rubble that contains everything she ever owned? The kids sat on the side of the road with no idea what to do as their whole families have died? £6 million is nothing to us, but it's the difference between life and death to the people of Haiti and I do not begrudge one penny of it.

By the way some of the worst & most bigotted phrases start with 'don't get me wrong, I...' and then there's the inevitable 'but' added.

Eg, 'don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with gay people, but...'
Or 'don't get me wrong, I'm no racist, but....'

You get my drift.

To be honest, I was very surprised to hear that as a nation we were only giving £6m as that doesn't sound very much given what's happened there...

Oh please, do you think the international community are so unintelligent as to give this money to the Haitian president and say "Here you go - do what you like"? That is a really stupid comment - that isn't the way these things work. The pledges western governments make are not initially cash ones, but rather things like rescue equipment/workers/medical support/water/food/blankets/emergency shelter etc. Once the humanitarian disaster has abated then we give financial support to rebuild infrastructure and buildings. The UK government will be giving support to the value of £6million. At no point is a blank cheque given to the Haitian government.

Population of the Uk is over 61 million

So £6 million is under £10 per person.

I think that a tenner to us is not going to mean as much as it would to orphaned children and childless parents in Haiti now is it?

10p, Jack! Not even £10!

clarea1 if you actually knew anything about the situation in Haiti you would know that all relief is being co-ordinated through the UNHCR. Do yourself a favour get off MN and read up on something you clearly know nothing about.

Unlike some other countries who make pledges in times of need, the UK has an excellent record of putting their money where the mouth is, ie the aid they promise is delivered. I can't remember the figures now but in the 2004 Tsunami a huge amount was pledged by a large number of countries. The amount actually delivered was substantially less. This is an interesting article on that point.

You should be proud to be a UK citizen and proud of what our government does for aid.

Sorry UNCERF not UNHCR.

and imagine if the UK was laid flat by an earthquake and someone sent 6 million. Just £10 pound a person.

It's nothing.

and I've got a maths degree

You see my point anyway.

YABVU. Shall I pay your ten pence for you? I think I can manage it.

£6 million is not a huge amount and to be honest it wouldnt make that much difference in this country anyway!. I cant believe that anyone would think like you are - imagine if your children were dead or injured, you had no home, no money, no food, no clean water.
There is alot in the news about how awful this country is but frankly its not, it could be alot worse so no we dont need £6 million more than these poor people do.