Priti Patel vows to defy Cameron’s £12bn overseas aid pledge as she hits out at ‘spending spree’ on waste and corruption

PRITI Patel is abandoning David Cameron's pledge to spend a fixed percentage of the national income on overseas aid.

The International Development Secretary told aides she would ignore the legal obligation to spend 0.7 per cent of the country's money abroad if it means funding wasteful or corrupt projects.

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Patel, who was given the job by new PM Theresa May in July, was stunned to find officials had been recommending projects just to help the Department for International Development hit its target.

She even revealed she would relish the chance to explain to the Commons why she hadn't blown the full amount.

A senior source said: "Other ministries are responsible for spending overseas development assistance and they will have to take responsibility for their own decisions.

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"Priti has been horrified by how some of this money has been spent. If we can't find legitimate projects to spend the money on, we won't spend it.

"She will cancel some projects before the end of the year and if she hasn't spent all the money she will have to explain herself to parliament."

The streamlining new secretary of state also told officials she will axe wasteful investments and launch an inquiry into the department's accounting practices.

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Patel is reportedly consulting officials about the possibility of left over cash being placed in the conflict, stability

A DfID source told  that the forthcoming aid reviews "provide DfID with an opportunity to cancel programmes that are not up to scratch" but insisted that meeting the 0.7% target was a "manifesto commitment that we will continue to honour".

The source added:"DfID will follow the money, the people and outcomes and ... ensure that spending is based on results rather than targets."

Last year it was revealed the aid budget had been used to teach Hamlet in Ecuador, find mates for tropical fish and combat litter in Jordan.