Cameron pledges another £814m towards vaccinating the world's poorest children (on top of £2bn we are already going to donate). We all know the story.
It's wrong because huge amounts of aid go missing - to the NGOs who pass it on, and to governments who spend it on things like space programmes or private jets.
It's wrong because DFID has been pathetic at monitoring the aid programmes it sanctions.
It's wrong because DFID is a poor chooser of projects in the first place.
It's wrong because we are being told that state spending in the UK has to be cut (we can't afford to fill in potholes, for example), but taxpayers have no choice about spending more money abroad.
It's wrong because it goes against current Conservative philosophy. The BIG SOCIETY means people making choices about what to support. LOCALISM is about driving decisions outward to citizens and away from the centre. Not hard to list projects on the internet that people can contribute to and get tax relief. Democracy in action, the most popular projects get the most money. Localism in action, individuals take the decisions. Big Society in action, people channel their generosity the ways they want to.
But Cameron wants to be the leader of a big spending government. Does it feel good, spending our money?
UPDATE - Richard North has written on this here.
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