THE foreign aid policy of this country is in dire need of an urgent and complete overhaul. It really does beggar belief that we are currently donating £280m in aid to India who have just launched a Mars probe costing some £45m.

They have an economy that ranks in the top five in the world and probably the fastest growing. Recently there have been reports that our foreign aid has been funding a girl group on an X factor type programme and that the people tasked with administering our aid budget are clueless as to where a large percentage of our budget goes and have even less idea as to how it is spent.

Surely the old adage that ' Charity begins at home ' should now be applied to our aid budget. Our government is doing a reasonable job of struggling with the ever increasing demands being placed on our NHS which requires urgent modernisation to make it fit for the 21st century.

Let us cancel all outstanding foreign aid commitments and use the savings on our NHS and other necessary projects for the foreseeable future. We can invite applications for aid on a project to project basis from foreign countries, as opposed to simply sending unaccountable millions to fund obscure objectives.

The one thing that is patently clear is that the current mess surrounding our foreign aid programme should not be allowed to continue.

Ian Holland

Belmont Park

Bolton