Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to fend off Russia by bolstering Baltics – as he unveils plan to divert £700million of overseas aid cash for security
The Foreign Secretary is looking to foster stability in former Soviet States and shore up our allies
BORIS JOHNSON plans to launch a covert fightback against Russian premier Vladimir Putin, The Sun can reveal.
The Foreign Secretary is preparing to use £700million of overseas aid cash for a new "empowerment fund" to shore up Britain's allies against the world's tyrants.
As aid it won't buy weapons but is designed to help support the UK's friends over a number of years.
And a big part of the mammoth pot of cash will go towards helping to protect Ukraine and the Baltics.
In a move that will infuriate the Kremlin the Tory heavyweight will look to use the new fund to foster stability and prosperity in former Soviet states.
And taxpayers’ cash could even go to helping countries such as Ukraine improving their defences against cyber warfare, and towards other allies combating radicalisation in places such as Syria and Libya.
The revelations come two months after Boris Johnson said Britain had to lead the fight against the ‘cult of the strong man’ in Russia and the Middle East.
In a withering speech at the start of December, BoJo said the UK had to challenge the idea that “might is always right”.
He said: “We have the cult of the strong man, we have democracy in retreat.
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“We need to redouble our resolve and defend and preserve the best of the rules-based international order.”
Whitehall insiders said the Foreign Secretary was billing the aid scheme as one that will spread Britain’s influence.
It will also be used as a ‘soft’ weapon against ISIS and radical extremists across the Middle East.
But the move threatens yet more criticism over Britain’s bloated £12billion overseas aid budget.
Just last week it emerged the Foreign Office was offering taxpayers cash to fund care in the community schemes in China as part of a drive to help the country - the second biggest economy in the world - stand “on its own two feet”.
In all it has approved draft proposals to hand £580million to countries such as China and India.
The Foreign Office has previously spent £3 million of taxpayers’ cash funding grassroots football in the Far East.
And the Government department was to blame for ‘Funding Nemo’ – the overseas aid scheme where the UK footed the bill for trying to discover a mate for a rare breed of Madagascan tropical fish.
One Government insider told the Sun: “The Department for International Development is getting a huge amount of criticism.
“But around a quarter of the £12billion aid budget is actually spent by departments like the Foreign Office and the Home Office – and that’s where a lot of the problems are coming from.”
John O’Connell, chief exec at the Taxpayers Alliance, said: “It’s crucial that taxpayers get value for the money they hand over to be sent overseas.
“So this pricey programme must deliver results or it should be scrapped.
“Hard-pressed families are fed up of paying their tax bill to see the money squandered on projects instead of spent on services here in the UK.”
The Foreign Office refused to comment.