BRITAIN is spending more on foreign aid than it does on the police.

The budget for overseas projects soared to £14.5billion last year.

2 In the UK more money is being spent on foreign aid than on the police force Credit: Getty - Contributor

It means foreign aid has more than doubled in the past decade and has topped the £13billion police budget for England and Wales in 2018. The rise was an inflation-busting 3.5 per cent and brought the total close to the £14.7billion a year spent on Scotland.

Tory former pensions minister Baroness Altmann said: “It can’t be right that we can afford to help third world countries while we seem to be unable to offer more than third world care to our elderly citizens.”

The budget is growing because laws brought in by David Cameron in 2015 dictate we must spend 0.7 per cent of Britain’s national income on foreign aid.

Last year’s £487million rise reflected the 3.5 per cent growth in our economy. The total ­budget was equal to more than £10 a week for every household.

The latest figures from the Department for International Development sparked fresh calls to ditch the 0.7 per cent target.

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MPs demanded an equivalent rise in the amount spent on health, education and other ­services. Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “It remains an extravagance in an era of continuing austerity.”

The Government said the rise reflected a healthy economy while aid reduced poverty, hunger and provided clean water.

A spokesman added: “But it is also tackling disease, terrorism and conflict and creating a safer, healthier and more prosperous world for us all.”

2 Baroness Altmann says we must take care of those closer to home before offering more money to third world countries Credit: Rex Features

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