Perusing (as one does and must) the latest DFID White Paper, I was struck by Chapter Seven’s account of how DFID busily plans to hand out taxpayers’ money to ‘civil society organisations’ and other favoured DFID friends not in far-flung poor countries but here in the UK:

 

This requires us to reconsider how we can build a more strategic partnership with civil society. We will consult with the UK Office of the Third Sector and CSOs to define the parameters of a new development “compact” between the UK and civil society organisations.

 

7.44 First, this new deal will mean an escalation of funding and support across the spectrum of non-profit organisations. DFID will double its non-humanitarian central support for CSOs to £300 million a year by 2013.

 

7.45 Second, it will mean that the UK looks beyond its traditional partners. There are many small UK community groups and individuals with fresh ideas to tackle poverty who struggle to access seed funds. It is also clear that faith groups and trade unions have different yet potentially powerful roles in development. And as civil society grows in strength in partner countries, we should do more to extend trusting relationships towards them.

 

7.46 Third, it will mean that our funding allocations to CSOs will be based on more rigorous performance assessments – considering both the capacity of organisations to deliver and their proven impact on poverty.

 

Look at the M-word:

 

  • build a more strategic partnership with civil society
  • we should do more to extend trusting relationships
  • more rigorous performance assessments

And the wonderfully seedy collectivist thought that small UK community groups and individuals with fresh ideas to tackle poverty who struggle to access seed funds (sic) should be handed lumps of taxpayers money to end their pitiful struggles.

 

Into my Inbox comes an unsolicited communication from International Policy Network, a CSO (haha) advocating market-based approaches to development.

 

It advertises an IPN paper claiming that DFID is handing out hundreds of millions of pounds of ‘fake aid’ via untransparent funding schemes, propaganda support to a number of organisations DFID favours: big-name charities, the TUC, individual trade unions etc.

 

Read the whole thing here.

 

In a banana republic the fact that the government was handing out money to bodies likely to support its ‘progressive’ agenda would be seen by normal people elsewhere as rampant corruption, and a good reason for donor governments to think twice about giving that government any support.

 

In the UK it is not corruption. No sirree. It’s all about building ‘trusting relationships’ with ‘civil society’.

 

Memo to next government: Insert ear-plugs to block out the shrill squeals as the groaning trough is yanked away from the gobbling snouts. Then just stop all this dead in its tracks on Day One. It’s wrong in principle, and bad in practice.