UK Aid to Somalia 'Helps Fund Al Qaeda'

Britain donates £90 million a year to Somalia, despite warnings that it is being used to arm Al Qaeda terrorists.

The Daily Mail has revealed that a leaked United Nations (UN) report warns of a “high level of systematic abuses” by Somali officials who have passed weapons and ammunition to Al Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group behind last year’s Kenyan shopping mall massacre where 67 people died.

Although most British aid is channelled through charities in order to by-pass the corrupt central government, a separate study also revealed that many of them are forced to hand over large sums to Al Shabaab in “protection money”, and a further £500,000 of UK Aid has been stolen by Al Shabaab militants.

Over the past few weeks, many British politicians have urged the UK government to cease aid spending abroad, while Britain struggles with massive flooding across the country. UKIP’s leader, Nigel Farage claimed that the money should be redirected to British taxpayers who are in need of assistance.

The revelations over UK Aid corruption may add to those calls, with Member of Parliament Ian Liddell-Grainger, whose own constituency was badly hit by the floods, commenting: “This is new evidence of what many MPs have warned about for years – that our aid money ends up in the wrong hands. There are a lot of countries where we shouldn’t be sending aid because we’re not helping the locals and often the money finds its way to despicable people.

“We need to remember that charity begins at home. There are people in need here.”

Fellow MP Stewart Jackson added: “Taxpayers are willing to support overseas aid if it goes to deserving people. But when it goes to Third World kleptocrats and terrorists they will be concerned. We need a reassessment of aid when there are pressing priorities at home.”