Thursday 3 February 2011

INTERNATIONAL AID BUDGET SPENT ON VATICAN STATE VISIT



FMQ is over at Subrosa's place this week


It seems that one of the countries that is in need of foreign aid is none other than the fabulously wealthy Vatican City.

I know this because it has come to the notice of the Committee for International Development, chaired by Malcolm Bruce, who has asked how diverting money from the international aid budget to pay for the state visit of His Holiness the Pope would meet the requirements of global aid rules.

Detailed examination of the accounts of the Department for International Development (DfID) show that £1.85 million of their fund money, was transferred from foreign aid to help pay for the expensive visit in June 2010.

Mr Bruce quite rightly noted that many people would be as surprised as the committee to discover that UK aid money was used to fund the Pope's visit. He also asked that ministers should explain exactly what this was spent on and how it tallies with Britain’s commitments on overseas aid.

Apparently DfID reckon that they were one of a number of government departments which part-funded the Pope's visit to the UK. The contribution, according to a spokesman, recognized the Catholic Church’s role as a major provider of health and education services in developing countries.

Good heavens. I’ve heard some crummy excuses in my time, but this one is worthy of a satire show all on its own. The Catholic Church does a great deal of work in under-developed countries, including continuing to deny the inhabitants the luxury of contraception to control the every larger population. Good work.

The spokesman said that the money did not constitute official development assistance and was therefore additional to the coalition government's historic commitment to meet the 0.7% UN aid target from 2013 (which is required to be met in order for the prime minister to retain his seat at the G8 table), although, I suspect that this has been hastily added now that the cat is out of the bag.

How embarrassing for the government to be found to be pilfering from an aid budget, to subsidize celebrations for the great and the good. But how typical.

But be aware that when you pay your higher taxes and get reduced services for them, that while this country blows hard about how much money it contributes to international aid, to helping the poorest people in the world, people hit by typhoons, earthquakes, disease and pestilence, that the government is just as likely to transfer the money to wining and dining heads of state, and laugh at you behind your back.

Pics: (1) The Pope has a new hat Sophia! (2) Examples of aid that the Vatican has spread around the third world, thus rendering it deserving of our aid money to fund their state visit. (3) How the ordinary people of the Vatican City live. (4) The poor wee Pope's summer residence at Gandolfo, which, along with Vatican City remains a part of the Papal States.



23 comments:

  1. It looks like he's got horns too...Ian Paisley couldn't have been right all slong surely?

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  2. Conan:

    He'd not be wanting any of his followers to see horns, I suspect.

    Maybe that's why he had to get a new hat... after Sophia got hers back when he came to see her in Edinburgh.

    I never asked if she got the handbag and gloves back too....

    I wonder if he ever wears trousers... you know, to do teh gardening or tidy up a bit when he's had the lads over a for a few drinks of an evening....

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  3. When he's had the lads over...? Barrel? Table?

    I wonder if he actually does get his old wartime kameraden over for a few beers; to sing a few songs and remember when the future belonged to them.

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  4. Pontificating about this he's a disgusting piece of humanity.

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  5. Well most people like a good old chat about the good old days... and his good old days are Hitler Youth: Can you imagine the strains of ...

    The sun on the meadow is summery warm
    The stag in the forest runs free
    But gathered together to greet the storm
    Tomorrow belongs to me

    ....coming out through the windows in the Vatican, the Swiss guards tapping their feet and humming along... nuns and priests dancing in the narrow sreets...

    Ah... an old man's pleasures...

    (...besides the barrels and tables and stapping blond youths Conan.)

    You have a mind like a sink!

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  6. Oh well the Christian church has probably murdered as many people as the Nazis have over the centuries so he will feel at home where he is now as boss of the Vatican.

    Why were we spending any money on this lying conman visiting this country. The Catholic church is rich by conning people out of their money with their lies that they have ripped off of the pagans that they are passing off as the truth. The Vatican even stands on a Pagan shrine to Mithra.

    Time that all religion was banned from schools or they start teaching the Pagan myths of Horus, Mithra, Krishna, Buddha etc as well so that people can that Jesus is the exact same myth as all of these and more and then conmen and liars like the Pope will have less gullible uneducated people to prey on.

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  7. We paid for it because it was a State visit, as opposed to a pastoral visit Billy.

    In a pastoral visit he would have come and said mass, maybe made a bloke a saint or something, met the Queen the First Minister and the Prime Minister and then gone back to the Vatican. In that case the Vatican would have paid for the visit.

    Spud Murphy was gagging to get him here because he wanted the catholic vote in his constituency, so Brown and presumably the Queen agreed to invite him here as a head of state instead of a head of church. That way he could come, say mass a couple of time, maybe make a bloke a saint or something met the Queen the First Minister and the Prime Minister and gone back to the Vatican. In that case we would pay for the visit.

    See the difference?

    A big fat con!

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  8. Well certainly with brass taps....

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  9. tris, a country so ravaged by crime as the Vatican City clearly needs our aid. In fact, as I remember, the Vatican City is the most crime ridden place in the world. I think that the international community owes it to ourselves to set an example.

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  10. The Vatican should not be classed as a state as its entire reason for existing is it is all based on a pack of lies in the first place. Churches and religions should not be tax exempt either. If these people are going to be allowed to con money out of stupid gullible people then the government should get their cut of this money to go towards better things than keeping people like the Pope in a life of luxury.

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  11. Billy it's cute that you think the government are any less detestable liars and thieves conning people than the church! At least the Pope does it with a bit of theatricality.

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  12. LOL Laz, it is a pretty wicked place one way and another...

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  13. I agree that religions whould not be tax exempt unless they register as charites, in which case there are a shed load of conditions that they must fulfil. Otherwise I could register as a religion Trisism, and get all the benefits!!

    They should not be allowed to break laws either. That a biology teacher or a woodwork teacher in a catholic school must be able to prove that they are a practising catholic is a nonsense. It removes equal job opportunities from those of us who are not catholics, but who could easily teach the subjects.

    As for no women in the priesthood... difficult one!

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  14. Yes Laz. I always think that he is the very spitting image of Von Smallheusen. I'm always expecting Herr Flick to appear and say "Fot are you doing vearing zat ridiculous hat and a dress Von Smallheusen? Get back into your cupboard immediately."

    Very theatrical... Even his little whiney voice seems to have been copied from VS....

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  15. Lazuruszine - Me think the government are less detestable liars theives and conmen - You obviously haven't read my blog then?

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  16. LOL Billy...

    Put up a link for the blog so Laz can have a look!!

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  17. WikiLeaks cables: US agrees to tell Russia Britain's nuclear secrets

    Hope Dean can take this in his manly unionist stride.

    Information about every Trident missile the US supplies to Britain will be given to Russia as part of an arms control deal signed by President Barack Obama next week.

    Oh dear!

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  18. Surely not CH... what with us having a special relationship and being teh junior partner in running the world. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

    And the idiot believed it. Even the humiliation of what he was saying in that speech wasn't true. We're a useful adjunct, but they don't really like us. (Who could blame them. I don't like us.)

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  19. I see you have a link to Paisley Expressions at the side Tris so all Laz needs to do is click on that and he will see that I don't have much time for most politicans especially the crooked, dishonest, murdering kind.

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  20. Aye I just thought Billy that Laz might not know that was your blog...

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