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!

The OP is being unreasonable but then, I think she knows that.

There is such a thing as humanity.

I don't begrudge them the money, it's obviously needed. I can barely watch the footage, it's just horrific.

I did note that the US is sending £100 million, according to a report... and I was a bit that they say they don't have money to fund healthcare for children and elderly but can dredge up £100 million in an instant. Again, don't begrudge them the money, just at the government....

And noted that they are there almost IMMEDIATELY for Haiti, but it took the US government almost 2 weeks if I remember correctly to get aid to the Hurricane Katrina victims.... again....

What bluesheep said - shame on you, we remain one of the richest country's on earth.

I'd like to thank the OP actually. Because if it hadn't been for this vile post I wouldn't have read TSC's post and I wouldn't have gone onto the Red Cross site and donated some money.

So thanks OP for helping me to help someone else.

Which paper were you hoping to print this in op? Who are you, Jan Moir or some such?

I sort of agree with OP, as this our country is constantly bitching & moaning about being in debt, yet we are always helping out other countries in emergencies.

I agree with all of the charities like Oxfam, Save the children etc, but not the government giving loads of money away.

What about all of the families in this country living in poverty? What about all the people with medical conditions such as Cancer, that can't afford the treatment as the NHS won't provide it?

My beliefs are, yes we should help out in these disasters, by maybe giving to the official charities that are helping, but most of all, we should get our own country sorted out in the first place.
After all "Charity begins at home".

You can also guarantee that most of the multi-millionnaires such as from the banking industry won't be donating anything, but the people who are on very low incomes usually end up paying towards charities.

YABVVVVVVU. I work for an international aid organisation and have seen first-hand this kind of devastation. You should be grateful that you and your children were born here not there. All western gvts should be giving far more and yes they will have already budgeted for disaster relief. Oh, and UK gvt funds are NEVER given directly to recipient country gvts, they are channeled through established aid organisations.

YABVU. 6 million pounds is absolutely nothing. We should be giving more!

alkiezrus - there are degrees of poverty. people in haiti live BELOW the poverty line. we have social safety nets in this country, they do not.

It is one of our responsibilities as a developed nation to respond to emergencies like this - it's not much, probably nowhere near enough but it's something.

I would be ashamed of this country if we didn't provide financial assistance on top of the usual aid agency help and funding.

I find this mind boggling.

alkiesrus The only thing you missed out of your post was a jibe about MP's expenses. It's a shame because I was to winning "Daily Mail Bingo"

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that in our next lives we're not born into abject poverty eh?

I'm no fan of Brown but this was the right thing to do. Time is of the essence and the people of Haiti need help as soon as is physically possible. Pledging goverment funds is quicker and more efficient than collecting donations,although of course, voluntary donations help a lot too.

Wondered when somebody would trot out that old chestnut 'Charity begins at home'. Just because it's a common saying doesn't mean it's a true or a good thing!

YABU obviously.

Yabu.

6 million is fuck all for a government to give, but will make a big difference in these circumstances.

Op, I suppose you never benefit from taxes do you? nEver use the NHS or send kids to school or use the roads?

Lord save us from idiots who read the Daily Fail and believe it's filth.

our country is constantly bitching & moaning about being in debt, yet we are always helping out other countries in emergencies^

Yeah. We're in debt. They are in hell. Where would you rather be?

What about all of the families in this country living in poverty? What about all the people with medical conditions such as Cancer, that can't afford the treatment as the NHS won't provide it?

There are families in this country living in poverty. However they do still have access to free healthcare, education and the welfare system. Do they have this in Haiti? And the NHS does treat cancer, I have no idea what you are banging in about there .

yes we should help out in these disasters, by maybe giving to the official charities that are helping, but most of all, we should get our own country sorted out in the first place.
After all "Charity begins at home".

That's what we are doing! We give money to the international relief organisations, and donate life-saving resources and equipment. And as far as sorting out our own country, why on God's earth can we not do both? As for the trotted out cliche, I'm not even going to bother.

You can also guarantee that most of the multi-millionnaires such as from the banking industry won't be donating anything, but the people who are on very low incomes usually end up paying towards charities.

You can guarantee that can you? Really? You're knowledge of these people must be pretty in depth then. What about all the multimillionaire celebrities that have already pledged money (Chris Martin for example)? As for the people on low incomes giving money, that just makes me proud to be British.

Something which people like you don't.

YABU. And very narrow minded. How can you equate the economic situation we are experiencing here with the complete life shattering devastation they are suffering there.

On the other hand maybe we could take the money out of the bonuses we are paying to RBS senior staff this year.

"What about all of the families in this country living in poverty?" Nobody in this country lives in poverty compared to countries like Haiti. No-one.

poverty is obviously relative, and of course there are people living in difficult financial situations in this country, but there's a vast difference between not being able to afford a broadband connection (I believe that's one of the measures for poverty nowadays? ) and having to watch your children die because you can't afford to feed them.

YABU. £6m is not going to rescue our country from recession, but it will help rescue people in Haiti from BEING DEAD.

As I think about it, I'm getting angrier and angrier about the OPs views in this thread. The government (taxpayer) paid out £37BILLION pounds to bail the banks out. And you are begrudging 6 million to save people's lives?

There is no logic in this kind of thinking though TSC. No logic, compassion, understanding or care. Just soundbites and cliches.

OP - YAB sooooooooo U.
Of all the terrible, idiotic and stupid things that Gordon Brown has done since coming to power, this is not one of them.

Do you have a TV, have you see the pictures of these poor people? How could you begrudge them a few pence of your money. You should be ashamed of yourself.

I agree that there are always concerns about how the aid will be distributed, but that is no excuse for giving nothing.

Even talking about the financial troubles we have in this country, in the same sentence as mentioning the terrible situation in Haiti, is an insult. So we might all be a bit skinter than we were before, maybe we will have to cut back a bit or even take redundancy, but that is NOTHING in comparison to losing your home, family and whole community.

Oh and isn't £6m something like 9p each for every person in the country? Tightwad.