UK aid policies under scrutiny
Free trade policies supported by the UK government have caused a farming crisis in India and led thousands of farmers to commit suicide.
A report by Christian Aid says that nearly 4,000 farmers have killed themselves in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh since the introduction of liberalisation policies because of increasing debts.
The report, which also highlights the “devastating impact” of unrestricted free trade on poor people in Ghana and Jamaica, calls on the Government to stop supporting such policies.
“It is a scandal that the British government has backed policies and pumped British taxpayers’ money into schemes which have contributed to poor Indian farmers killing themselves and Indian workers being laid off in huge numbers,”said Christian Aid’s director, Daleep Mukarji.
However, a spokesman for the Department for International Development defended the UK’s aid policy, saying: “The UK does not support unfettered free trade or forced liberalisation.”
