A telephone survey on behalf of the ONE Campaign.
Date Published: 08 Oct 2012
Categories: International | Public and communities | Social | Third Sector
Description
6 OUT OF 10 UK ADULTS AGREE WITH INCREASED OVERSEAS AID BUDGET
Today, as the new Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening addresses the Conservative Party Conference, a new poll shows the majority (61%) of UK adults agree with next year’s planned increased spending on overseas aid.
When asked for views on next year’s planned spending on aid, two in five (41%) think that the Government’s plan to spend 1.6 pence in every pound of government spending on international aid is about right, and one in five (20%) even think that this rate is too low. Only a third of people (34%) think that it is too high.
The research commissioned by anti-poverty group ONE and conducted by ComRes, shows that 63% of people over estimate the amount the UK plans to spend on international aid next year. Nearly half (46%) think that the UK plans to spend more than three times what it will actually spend on overseas aid. 1 in 5 people (22%) think the government is planning to spend more than 20% of its national spending budget on international aid.
Adrian Lovett, Europe Executive Director of ONE, said:
“Justine Greening may have a tough time today to convince some, but this poll shows the majority of the British public are behind her and support the international aid budget.
“People routinely over-estimate how much we spend on international aid and under-estimate the results. Our aid budget is little more than a penny in every pound of government spending. In the next four years this will put 15 million children in school, provide over 80 million children with vaccines against life-threatening diseases and help more than 44 million people participate in freer and fairer elections.
“Our aid is making a difference, and we should work to make it better still. The UK aid budget is saving lives around the world and is helping countries like Ghana plan for a future in which they don’t need aid. Now would be the worst possible time to cut back.”
Notes to editors:
1. ComRes interviewed 1,040 UK adults by telephone between 28th and 30th September 2012. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all UK adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
2. The government has set out plans to increase the international aid budget from 1.3 to 1.6 pence in every pound of government spending, as the UK meets its promise to invest 0.7% of national income in overseas aid next year.
3. 63% of people think that 2.7% or more of the UK Government’s national spending budget next year is planned to be spent on international aid. The actual figure is 1.6%.
4. 46% think that 5.1% or more of the UK Government’s national spending budget next year is planned to be spent on international aid.
5. For more information about what the UK aid budget deliver will over the next four years visit: www.one.org/bigdifference
6. ONE is a global grassroots advocacy and campaigning organisation backed by 3 million people that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. For more information, please visit www.ONE.org