Bill Gates warns scrapping 0.7 per cent foreign aid target could lead to pandemics and migration chaos in Britain
BILL Gates has tried to scare ministers into keeping the hated 0.7 per cent foreign aid target by warning without it Britain faces deadly pandemics and fresh migration chaos.
Microsoft’s billionaire founder warned it would “cost money” to have a pandemic come out of Africa as well as tackle mass migration.
In an interview with he insisted taxpayers were “getting something back” from £12billion worth of aid handouts.
He said: “If people aren’t worried about pandemics coming to Britain then they should be.
“Diseases will come out of Africa that transmit far more effectively than Ebola, so these countries need to have basic health systems to contain whatever new pathogens come along.
“If you asked what in the world is most likely to jump out and kill an extra ten million people, it is absolutely a pandemic.
“The kind of surveillance and ability to respond that we have through our aid budgets means that we ought to be able to stop these diseases before they spread back to the UK or the US.”
Speaking after Theresa May hinted Britain’s aid funding pledge may not be protected in the upcoming Tory manifesto, the philanthropist warned withdrawing cash could cost lives.
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He added: “In the case of the UK government, aid is under 2 per cent of the budget — it’s 0.7 per cent of GDP, and applied in places where the interventions are at least a hundred times more effective than anything you’d do domestically.
“If you can’t save a life for less than $1,000, it’s not done. Nor is it done unless there’s a strategic goal — in terms of reducing pandemics, or creating stability to avoid war and migration.
“So you’re getting something back, avoiding problems for the UK and in particular the US. It would cost money to have a pandemic come out of Africa, it would cost money to have mass migration.”
Mr Gates met with International Development Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday after a meeting with the PM was cancelled due to the snap election.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “What we are clear on is we take our international responsibilities seriously.
“As a global, outward-looking country we will continue to support the poorest people around the world.”
