Britain will spend more on aid to foreign countries than it does on policing and prisons in the UK, it was revealed today.

George Osborne today promised to increase the amount of taxpayers' money sent abroad by a almost £1billion a year.

The foreign aid budget will reach £12billion in April increasing to 15.6billion in 2020, the Chancellor said, with more money for 'fragile nations' and cash to help countries cope with climate change.

Pledge: George Osborne and David Cameron, pictured in the Commons today, both believe that £15.6billion of British money should be sent abroad as aid by 2020

The spending commitment outstrips what the Home Office pays for policing from its £10.6billion budget and more than the £6.2billion-a-year Ministry of Justice spends on prisons.

HOW FOREIGN AID HAS BEEN USED ABROAD IN THE PAST FEW YEARS £3,400 was spent on finding female mates for the endangered Mangarahara cichlid fish, in Madagascar. £3,104.09 was spent on English lessons for young football players in Uruguay. £13,888 spent on a ‘Q&A game show on National Television’in Ethiopia. £51,564 giving Serbians work experience in the UK. £5,000 last year on ‘Hamlet education workshops’ in Ecuador, South America. £2,042-worth of free tickets given to children for a Hamlet production in Haiti. Advertisement

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said today: 'Cameron and Osborne are spending more on foreign aid than on the Home Office, which includes our Police. This is madness'.

The Prime Minister has set a target that 0.7 per cent of national income despite outrage from some that the cash could be better spent at home.

Out of every £100 spent by these Western nations on overseas aid, no less than £14 now comes from the UK - and the overall budget is now nearly double France's and ten times the level in Spain.

In an interview three days ago the Chancellor admitted it was tough to convince the public in the need for billions in aid going abroad.

He told the Sunday Times: ‘There’s no doubt that it’s been hard pounding on, persuading the British public of the merits of the aid budget'.

‘You will see a much greater emphasis on fragile states and a very thorough review of how we spend the money across the aid programme. People are very cross about public money being wasted abroad'.

The spending on foreign aid will increase despite a string of scandals about where some of the money was spent.

This summer the Foreign Office, who spent £343million on overseas aid, launched a review after it was used to pay for a play in Haiti, a TV game show in Ethiopia and finding mates for fish in Madagascar.

It has emerged millions in aid went on rare tropical fish, Hamlet in South America and an Ethiopian gameshow

Big spender: Some £3,400 was spent on finding female mates for the endangered Mangarahara cichlid fish

In one case more than £2,000 worth of tickets were given away for the Caribbean production it was claimed would ‘promote UK culture’.

A further £5,000 went on Hamlet workshops in Ecuador and as well as £7,000 to cut littering in Jordan, there was also more than £6,000 spent on school music lessons.

And a project to promote ‘safe and responsible’ use of Facebook in Laos, south-east Asia, cost £970.

Humanitarian groups said it was important overseas aid spending was concentrated on alleviating poverty.

Diane Sheard, director of the ONE Campaign founded by U2 singer Bono, said: ‘By law, UK aid must help to reduce global poverty. If money is being used to fund schemes that don’t meet this goal, then it shouldn’t be counted as aid.