UK boosts Afghan aid to speed troop exit

UK spending on aid projects in Afghanistan is to rise by 40 per cent as the government attempts to set a path for withdrawing troops from the country by 2015.

Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, said on Sunday that securing progress in the country was his “number one priority” at the same time as he indicated that other countries such as India could receive far less of the £7.3bn of the international aid budget.

The decision by David Cameron, the prime minister, to prioritise Afghanistan for extra spending is part of a push to use international development as a way of bolstering national security and military objectives.

British forces suffered four deaths in a 24-hour period over the weekend, bringing to 322 the number of UK soldiers killed since the conflict began in 2001.

Mr Cameron and Sir David Richards, the new chief of defence staff, both believe that the US and UK must make greater efforts to make political progress in Afghanistan alongside the security effort, with aid projects a crucial way of winning local support.

Sir David has said the military mission will have “failed” if troops are not withdrawn by 2015, though Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said “non-combat” troops could remain beyond that date.

Mr Fox has said previously that Britain was only in Afghanistan to safeguard its own national security rather than to support the redevelopment of the country.

In a speech on Monday, Mr Mitchell will say “well-spent aid” in Afghanistan is in the UK’s interest because it promotes political progress and supports the military’s work to bring security and peace to the country.

”While the military bring much-needed security, peace will only be achieved by political progress backed by development,” he will say.

The government has already committed £500m on Afghan aid projects over the next five years. Mr Mitchell said an “aid watchdog” would oversee the programme after accusations that previous projects had proved ineffective.

Spending will be targeted at education, policing, emergency food and medicine, and jobs and training.

In a Sunday interview for the BBC’s Politics Show, Mr Mitchell said the government had looked “very carefully” at how money was being spent in Afghanistan. ”We’ve found some additional funding from less good programmes, so in principle we have an additional 40 per cent going into the development budget,” he said.

His department is reviewing how it spend its £7.3bn aid budget and has already said some countries, such as China and Russia, will no longer receive it. Aid to India is also being looked at as the country “roars out of poverty”, Mr Mitchell said.