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January 21st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
It’s all laudable work, of course, but not without its opportunity costs. Even
as Mr Mitchell was promising more help for the Gurkha heartlands, the
Ministry of Defence was announcing that 400 Gurkha soldiers – one in eight –
faces redundancy under the Coalition’s defence cuts.
Back in Kathmandu after a bone-jarring six-hour drive down mountain tracks, Mr
Mitchell tells the Daily Telegraph he accepts the hard fact that fewer of
those soldiers might be sacked if his own budget was smaller.
It’s a difficult choice, but the right decision, he says, going on to argue
that aid should be seen as a vital part of Britain’s wider defence efforts.
“Our security in London and Birmingham is not just provided by soldiers and
tanks and fighter jets, it is also provided by training the police in
Afghanistan, by building up governance structures in the Middle East and by
getting girls into school in the Horn of Africa. Those things are all part
of what makes us safer.”
By addressing instability and conflict “upstream”, he says, Britain can avert
the future security threats that even the poorest countries can pose to the
richest. Aid work in Somalia today could prevent the need for military
intervention there tomorrow, he says.
As well as making us safer, aid will make us richer too, he says. “When we
invest in the private sector and development in very poor countries they
will become more prosperous and we will become more prosperous. That is an
investment in the future of our children and our grandchildren.”
At times, Mr Mitchell almost overflows with pride at the changes he believes
his growing budget is making to the lives of the poorest. And instead of
quibbling, he suggests, we should be celebrating.
“It is fundamentally part of Britain’s DNA to go to the assistance of those in
wretched poverty,” he says. “In a year when we have Her Majesty’s Diamond
Jubilee and a year when Britain is hosting the Olympics, people throughout
our country should and can feel great pride in the way in which Britain is a
force around the world projecting these values, respected for the way in
which we carry out this work.”
Bold declarations like that can rile sceptics of the growing aid budget. Some
fear more spending means more waste. Others wonder whether the extra money
shouldn’t be spent at home instead.
The doubters include not just Conservative MPs but members of the Mitchell
family
(“My sister is an aid sceptic, but she’s getting better”) and the minister is
acutely aware of the need to make the argument for aid, again and again.
“It is a continuous battle that needs to be won ever day, because the economic
circumtances are so difficult in Britain. We have to demonstrate far more
than other departments that the money is well-spent.”
He accepts that too much development money is stolen by politicians and
officials in poor nations. Corruption is “the cancer around development,” he
says, urging charities and their celebrity backers to make more noise about
the issue.
“In the same way that people marched against debt, we need to see the same
passion and the same drive across civil society to stand up for the very
poor whose lives are made even worse by the corruption of their leaders.”
Mr Mitchell has held the aid brief, in opposition and government, for seven
years, and regards it as a 24/7 commitment. He still spends a week a year in
Rwanda with Project Umubano, which he set up in opposition to send
Conservative volunteers to get a taste of development work.
His almost boyish enthusiasm for his work – and his flop of public-school hair
– mean it’s easy to overlook the fact that Mr Mitchell is a parliamentary
veteran, first elected an MP a quarter of a century ago when he was only 31.
A Commons whip under Sir John Major, he wrestled with the Maastricht rebels
and formed a strong bond with his fellow whip, David Davis. In 2005, he ran
Mr Davis’ leadership campaign, but has since become a staunch ally of the
Cameroon modernisers; they regard increasing aid spending as a vital part of
changing the Conservative Party’s image and thinking.
More than 60 Tory MPs, including David Cameron, have now taken part in Project
Umubano, and the party “has been changed quite radically on development” Mr
Mitchell says.
He refuses to question the intentions or ethics of his opponents: “I don’t
think that the people who disagree with this are in any way dishonourable; I
completely understand that at a time of great stress these are very
difficult decisions.” But in a swipe at some of his own party, he adds:
“Real Conservatives don’t cut aid.”
In Whitehall gossip, Mr Mitchell enjoys the dubious honour of being frequently
linked to other Cabinet posts, including last year’s vacancy at the Ministry
of Defence, the Chief Whip’s office and, perhaps one day, promotion to the
Foreign Office.
He insists such questions are “above my pay grade” and a matter for the PM,
but the prospect of remaining at DfID for the rest of this Parliament
appears to cause him little dismay. “I enjoy this job more than anything I
have done in politics before,” he says.
The job means frequent travel – this week he has also been in Bangladesh – but
he retains the whip’s fascination for parliamentary manouevering and the
balance of power at Westminster.
His conclusions about the current state of play are at odds with many of his
colleagues. Tories should be taking Ed Miliband more seriously, he says.
“People would be extremely unwise to write him off. He is in the foothills of
becoming an effective opposition leader.”
Surely that’s just spin, a crude attempt to persuade Labour to retain a leader
many Tories regard as an electoral gift? That’s “far too cynical”, he says,
insisting Mr Miliband has a better connection with voters than some give him
credit for.
“He is exploring some interesting issues which will at the least keep us on
our toes. Those who write him off underestimate him.”
Unlike some of his party colleagues, he is comfortable working with the
Liberal Democrats, not least because they are entirely supportive of higher
aid spending.
Voters also like the Coalition, “because they like politicians to work
together”, he says. But his “absolute priority” is seeing Mr Cameron elected
head of an all-Conservative government in 2015.
In the meantime, Mr Mitchell, so keen to prevent conflict abroad, will
continue his political fight to win the argument for giving away more money.
“We are making progress, but I don’t suggest that battle is won.”
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