Put our needy elderly first! With council tax set to rise £160 to plug the social care black hole, MPs demand foreign aid billions are switched to tackle the crisis

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 The £12billion foreign aid budget should be used to tackle the crisis in social care, MPs said last night (file picture) 

The £12billion foreign aid budget should be used to tackle the crisis in social care, MPs said last night.

Their call to put Britain’s elderly first came amid warnings that the system supporting the vulnerable was close to ‘toppling over’.

And yesterday Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested for the first time there would be a review of the controversial target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid.

Ministers are also considering allowing rises of up to £160 in council tax over the next two years, with much of the money going to fund social care.

But MPs said this would not solve the problem and diverting cash from the foreign aid budget instead could solve the crisis at a stroke. 

Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, demanded action as well, saying: ‘The needs of our vulnerable elderly must come first before prioritising the needs of people elsewhere.

‘It is important for us to be a global leader in helping poverty-stricken and Third World countries – but what we mustn’t forget is that we have the equivalent of poverty-stricken and Third World social care here.’

Council bosses say they need an extra £1.3billion to fund the care sector, which faces a rapidly ageing population, wage rises and budget cuts. Tory backbenchers point out this amount is equal to the slice of the £12billion aid budget that Britain sends to Brussels to spend on our behalf.

Shipley MP Philip Davies said: ‘Charity begins at home and we should make sure we are spending enough on social care for our vulnerable older and disabled constituents before we send money abroad – especially when so much of that is wasted.’

Wellingborough MP Peter Bone added: ‘It would seem very sensible to me to use some of the overseas aid money to look after needy people in this country.’

Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested for the first time there would be a review of the controversial target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid. Yesterday, it emerged that Mrs May is preparing to allow town halls to hike council bills by up to £80 next year to help fund the social care system

Thousands of older people are left stuck in hospital beds because town halls cannot provide support in the community. This bed blocking means operations are being delayed for younger people.

Yesterday, it emerged that Mrs May is preparing to allow town halls to hike council bills by up to £80 next year to help fund the social care system. A similar rise could follow the year after under plans to allow councils to bring forward increases in the social care precept.

Mr Hammond made his remarks on the foreign aid target in response to a question from the Tory MP Chris Philp, who asked him to look again at the 0.7 per cent ringfence. Mr Philp pointed out the EU average spending on overseas aid is 0.45 per cent of GDP.

The Chancellor replied that ‘later on in the parliament we will have a spending review’. He said this would cover ‘tax commitments, spending commitments, ringfences and so on’.

Government sources played down the idea that the 0.7 per cent target championed by David Cameron could be scrapped altogether.

Girl bands and the ant man... where your cash goes

The Mail has led the way in chronicling how British taxpayers’ money has been squandered overseas. 

Here are some of the most egregious examples of how YOUR money has been frittered away:

1. £4million to fund Ethiopia’s own Spice Girls. Yegna, a five-strong group, launched a radio show and released a string of videos that aimed to empower women in the African country.

2. £15million on a scheme aimed at reducing the flatulence of Colombian cattle to help combat climate change.

Wannabees: While Ethiopia struggled with the legacy of famine and war, £4million of British aid money went to the African's version of the Spice Girls - giving them a radio show aimed at empowering women 

3. £25million on teaming up meteorologists with Kenyan ‘rainmakers’, who observe the movements of ants to predict the weather.

4. Britain committed £700million to help impoverished children in Pakistan – only for corrupt officials to cream off vast amounts of money by creating thousands of fake teaching jobs then pocketing the salaries.

5. £3million wasted on sending unwanted helicopters to help out with the aftermath of last year’s Nepal earthquake.

6. Last year £3million was given to China – the world’s second largest economy – to increase ‘awareness’ of British football.

Cash cow: £15million spent on reducing the animals’ flatulence in a bid to tackle climate change

Rain cheque: £25million in aid went on using the insects to predict the weather in Kenya

7. A £22.5million programme of aid for China included role-play sessions to encourage young people to think about climate change.

8. Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy was paid £15,000 for just a few hours’ work at a summit in Mexico.

9. Britain gives £72million a year to Palestine, more than a third of which goes straight to the Palestinian Authority, which critics say supports terrorists.

10. An aid watchdog found UK money actually fuels corruption in Nigeria – with one scheme increasing the likelihood locals would have to pay backhanders to the police.