Minister’s job at risk over foreign aid fiasco
BILLIONS of pounds wasted on foreign aid are set to cost International Development Secretary Justine Greening her job, sources have claimed.
Ms Greening, who has been in charge of foreign aid since 2012, faces questions over how vast sums of UK taxpayers’ money are being spent.
Among the question marks over her record is how £12million of Ebola aid to Sierra Leone was allegedly stolen by corrupt officials and how millions sent to Mozambique to buy a fishing fleet ended up helping to pay for military patrol boats from France.
Over the weekend a senior government source reportedly suggested that Ms Greening’s ministerial career will end in a reshuffle expected shortly after the EU referendum on June 23.
The source said: “Justine is top of the PM’s hitlist at the moment. She made clear from the outset that she didn’t really want the job and has done the bare minimum to try to defend the Government’s foreign aid policy against a storm of protest.”
A Downing Street source said that the speculation over Ms Greening was “unsubstantiated nonsense”.
But the beleaguered minister has come under fire from predecessor Andrew Mitchell for failing to “get out there” and defend the aid budget.
Because 0.7 per cent of GDP currently has to be spent on international aid the bloated £12billion bill will rise even further to £16billion by 2020. The expected reshuffle is likely to see Prime Minister David Cameron try to bring the party together after the poll by giving top jobs to Brexit supporters.
Justice Secretary Michael Gove is expected to be Deputy PM, while Boris Johnson could be handed the difficult job of Health Secretary.
Employment Minister Priti Patel and Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt, who have both been prominent Leave campaigners, are also tipped for full Cabinet jobs.