A400M Atlas aircraft will deliver up to 20 tonnes of UK aid supplies to those affected by the devastating cyclone, say the MoD.
The Government of Mozambique has declared a national emergency in the aftermath of the cyclone and the arrival of the aircraft next week will ensure UK aid can be used to meet immediate needs on the ground, say the UK Government.
Tropical Cyclone Idai is regarded as one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere as a whole. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage in multiple nations, leaving more than 700 people dead and hundreds more missing.
In the Southern Hemisphere, its death toll is comparable to that of the 1892 Mauritius cyclone, the 1903 French Polynesia cyclone, the 1927 Madagascar cyclone, and Cyclone Leon–Eline in 2000.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:
“The UK stands united with those affected by the devastation of Cyclone Idai at this incredibly difficult time. Our partners across the globe can count on our Armed Forces to lend a helping hand in times of need, which is why are sending an RAF aircraft to assist with the aid relief.”
The deadly cyclone and torrential rains may have left more than a thousand people dead in Mozambique alone and it is one of the biggest humanitarian disasters the region has ever faced. It is estimated by the UN that 350,000 people are still at risk due to rising water levels in urban and rural areas.
UK aid on board the aircraft will help towards providing vital relief for the 37,500 people in need of urgent shelter. Current reports indicate at least 17,400 homes have been completely destroyed by the cyclone and flooding and the RAF’s rapid deployment of the aircraft will help ensure the timely delivery of UK aid supplies.
Just another fine example of how our foreign aid budget could be spent.
Heavy lift aircraft and helicopters plus, hospital ships and an increase in staffing for the royal engineers and medical teams to support humanitarian operations is the way forward.
I agree.
Increases our presence, shows more “soft power”, helps humanitarian operations, and can then be available for war should that happen.
The supplies will be from the aid budget, no idea whether the RAF get paid for taking it though.
they are supposed to be paid out of the aid budget but what they say and what happens who really knows..i am not a fan of throwing tax payers money away on ai, but in these type of circumstances i can understand,just boils my blood giving money to China India and other countries in so called aid,when they have there own space programs nuclear weapons etc,how they can say those countries need aid is above and beyond me
I thought the MoD gets compensated for operational costs such as fuel by HMT from a contingency reserve
We have never spent a penny of aid money on space missions.
Agreed. This is not money down the plug hole. It also shows what this country’s values are. Our professional service personnel are a credit to us all.
It would definitely be good to see just a small portion of the £17 billion aid budget spent on hard wear that can support relief and support the military. Some sort of rapid reaction fleet, a hospital ship, several Bay type vessels, ship to shore connectors, vehicles and machinery for infrastructure repair, a couple of additional A400m and a fleet of merlin for supply drop, rescue and reconnaissance work. £200 million of the £17 billion per year for ten years could build a relief force bar none. We would be the first there, and the biggest foreign supporter of aid greatly growing our standing and building good relationships.
It could built as a new arm to the armed forces and used to train our seaman and pilots before transitioning into our armed assets.
Might we also consider some additional astutes to delivering covert aid and some F35’s, purely for rapid reconnaissance of course?
We haven’t given cash to India for years, the money is spent on creating jobs and buisness, creating new markets for us.
Any actual cash that we give to any country out of our aid budget is in the form of soft loans.
We don’t give any money to the Indian government.
We havnt for years.
We are spending £98m over two years.
Every penny is going on projects that we choose and have a hand in, the projects are specifically chosen to create jobs and open up markets for us.
What a fat arsed bird the A400 is!
Oh, India’s space program is an excellent idea. Yes it seams extravagant for a nation with high levels of sub-standard living, but they manage to do amazing things with a very small budget. It gives a wonderful opportunity for the country to develop high level technology and inspire its people. A great source of National Pride for them….and, I might add, well deserved.
If you said to India, hey, instead of the £200m quid we give you each year in cash, we are going to pay for sewers to be installed for 1m people, they would have a fit.
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No they wouldn’t, they’d have a shit!!!
£17bn/yr…. can’t believe the Foreign Aid budget has ballooned to this staggeringly large number!!! Given the current pressures on all government departments – not just the MoD – this is scandalous!! I’m not against Foreign Aid in principle but come on, this is ridiculous!!! Another idiotic Cameron legacy enshrining 0.7% GPD into UK law – shear genius! It needs to be reversed ASAP!
Lots of things need reversing ASAP….but the foreign aid budget is the least of them. Our headlong decent into economic oblivion ought to be occupying minds significantly more than it is!
Reviving UK industry.
1. Cut business rates on industrial sites to the European average. The EU says Britain cannot, as that would be unfair state aid. I might agree if we were undercutting them, but just going to the European average seems fair to me.
2. Stop foreign private equity buying British firms & then extracting all the wealth out of them, sending the cash abroad as dividend & leaving the UK firm, hollowed out & loaded with debt.
I fear global debt will turn out to be a bigger threat than Trump, Brexit, Putin, Daesh, Global Warming & plastic bags!
Really good ideas! But don’t blame the EU for any of it. This has been going on since the end of WW2. It hit huge proportions under Thatcher…with the likes of Racal shagging the electronics industry!
Hero, I Think You are right. We need to Reverse the Damage done over the last 46 Years . And we need to do it Now. Spending (Waisting) 46 Years trying to Influence the Fat Cats of Europe has got us absolutely nowhere. Unless You are Rich and , Fat.
I’m only Agreeing with you and your last Post on this subject.
You sure do sound like TH and that Fluent English Typing Russian than turned up recently. what’s His name again ? Olnya, Moaner, or something ?
Ulya Captain.
All different people in my opinion.
Cheers !
Not too sure myself.
Ulya, Ulya Mustafina, female btw captain. Thank you for the compliment on my English
Lol, I’m a Cartoon character !
Ulya, is an Islamic name…it means something like the highest or greatest!
That is correct Herodotus, in my case Turkic Tatar
Huh? You have a “Case of Turkic Tartar”. Have you tried Colgate Complete Protection ?
You like to reinforce your ignorance don’t you captain
LOL, I got a “Bite”!
Ulya…look at his other posts. Pro-fascistic comments passed off in an air of Bon Homie. The sad face of Britain in 2019!
Just found this comment.
Lovely surname too by the way.
Links to the Crimea? The Tatar I believe originate from there?
“Turd’ Might just be the last post of Ulya, TH and HERODOTUS , By all accounts. Unless I’m Mistaken/ Wrong/Physophantic or how ever It’s Spelt.
A government planning inspector has just ruled on my local authority’s local plan. All the large green sites the developers wanted to build on have been approved. All the concerns about congestion, infrastructure & pollution raised by local residents ( & some state agencies) have been ignored.
Had he said yes to half & no to half, it would have been a good compromise, between preservation of existing greenbelt & the future need.
By rubbing the local residents noses in it, I fear the reaction.
Trump, Brexit, the yellow vests, are all signs, the ordinary people are fed up & angry at being ignored by a powerful small corrupt elite.
New Labour loved unlimited immigration & that led to one million votes for the BNP. Only a tiny percentage were hard right racists. Most were fed up normal people pushed beyond their normal limit.
The bickering in Parliament, the lack of any goodwill from the EU, the delay to Brexit, could all lead to the rise of a new extremist party & leader.
If that happens, the aloof arrogant elite, has only itself to blame, for not listening to the people & acting on their concerns.
To be fair John that is happening all over Europe.
The EU have an agenda, they do not let silly things like Referendums and nationals fed up with what is happening under their nose get in the way!