Save The Children richer than ever thanks to the policies of Tony Blair

Hundreds of staff at Save the Children have signed a letter saying they are deeply unhappy that the American wing of their charity gave Tony Blair The Global Legacy Award last week.

The award in New York was for Mr Blair’s “leadership on international development” – specifically the G8 pledge at Gleneagles in 2005 to double aid to Africa, the provision of 100 per cent  debt relief to the world’s poorest countries, and Mr Blair’s “Africa Governance Initiative“.

The letter calls the award “morally reprehensible” and I’m told those who have signed it are furious; but in fact Mr Blair has done a great deal to help alleviate poverty. It was when he was Prime Minister that the UK committed to spending 0.7 per cent of Britain’s gross national income on aid.

That target was reached last year, amid much controversy, because most UK government departments have faced spending cuts. It means that the UK’s annual aid spend now exceeds £11bn – and it means that Save the Children has never been richer.

Because government cannot disburse rising amounts of money overseas without risking that it will fall prey to corruption, British charities are perceived as the safest recipients.

Thanks to Mr Blair, many of Britain’s biggest aid charities have become spending arms of the British government.

So disgruntled aid workers at Save the Children are biting the hand that has fed them like no other.

The root of their unhappiness is, of course, Blair’s role in the Iraq war. Estimates vary,  but it is reckoned that between 100,000 and up to 500,000 people may have been killed in Iraq during violence between 2003 and 2011.

Two of Mr Blair’s advisers when he was Prime Minister, Justin Forsyth and Jonathan Powell, now work for or advise Save the Children, though we’ve seen no evidence that they had any role in giving Mr Blair his award in America.

The controversy over this award reflects a wider issue – the relationship between major charities and the politicians who effectively decide how much money they receive.  Save the Children has carefully fostered a good relationship with Britain’s Conservative-led government just as it did with Labour before.

It would be churlish for Save the Children to withdraw the award.

Americans have a long history of feting British Prime Ministers when they are not regarded in such high esteem at home. But in future, British charities should not fete politicians who control their purse strings like never before.

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