Foreign aid bill soars by 40%: Former minister calls for money to be spent on nurses and police as it’s revealed the department’s budget has nearly doubled in seven years

‘The wage bill at the foreign aid department has soared by 40 per cent in seven years.
It now stands at £133million – £38million up on 2010 when David Cameron took power.
His target of diverting 0.7 per cent of national income abroad saw spending reach £13.3billion last year.
The huge sums were revealed as a Tory former minister said part of the aid budget should instead go on pay rises for police and nurses.
In 2010-2011, the Department for International Development had 1,822 staff. By this April this had leapt to 2,208, when other ministries were axeing jobs and slashing budgets.’
Read more: Foreign aid bill soars by 40%: Former minister calls for money to be spent on nurses and police as it’s revealed the department’s budget has nearly doubled in seven years