Israellycool readers should know Kay Wilson’s story by now. Kay survived the most brutal terrorist attack by two Palestinian Arabs during which she witnessed the murder of her friend and which she only just survived. Her bravery helped ensure the two murderers are sitting in an Israeli prison, hopefully forever.
Kay sent a letter to Mr Twigg, currently the chair of the UK’s International Development Committee which described the attack and explained how UK foreign aid money which is sent to the Palestinian Authority makes its way to the terrorists who nearly murdered her and the families of so many terrorists.
That letter formed the basis of a major report in the Daily Express (one of the UK’s main newspapers) which noted that Mr Twigg was looking into taking action over her letter.
After a strange delay where Kay received no personal acknowledgement of her letter (despite Mr Twigg talking about it with the committee and with the Daily Express) she has now received his reply:
Here is Kay’s reply:
Dear Mr Twigg
Thank you for your letter dated 16 January. I’m disappointed with your proposed plan of action. The committee’s decision, to raise the contents of my letter with DFID – UK Department for International Development, is the wrong decision. It’s the wrong decision because your letter fails to mention the most serious allegation that I made, namely my contention that DFID – UK Department for International Development officials and ministers have misled Parliament about how taxpayer’s money is spent.
How can you expect DFID to investigate themselves? Surely that is a responsibility that lies with your committee? You have a range of powers that would allow this matter to be investigated properly. Why, therefore, is the committee choosing a remedy that is the least transparent?
In the interests of openness, I respectfully request a direct answer to that question.
For your information I am aware that a predecessor committee examined DFID’s work in this area. I researched that report before I wrote to you. You may want to revisit the contents. [The UK’s Development Work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories PDF]
Paragraph 27 and 28 of the conclusions of that report state:
27. We are nevertheless concerned that DFID is not taking adequate measures to prevent its funds from being misused. Given the scale of the operation, with 85,000 civil servants being paid with UK money, there is a serious risk of abuse. We do not regard a six-monthly audit as an adequate protection to secure the integrity of UK aid funds. (Paragraph 68)
28. We recommend that DFID impose more stringent checks to ensure that the money it provides to the PA is not being misused while pursuing a constructive dialogue with the PA on the end-use of funds. (Paragraph 68)
DFID continued making the payments despite these strong concerns being expressed by the IDC.
I look forward to your response on the question of the lack of transparency in the proposal that you have made.
