Malaria nets distributed by the Global Fund have ended up being used for fishing, protecting livestock and to make wedding dresses

Half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money was rushed into a controversial foreign aid project in a stunning breach of Britain’s own rules on donation, an investigation by The Times has found.





Whitehall chiefs told auditors that they signed a huge cheque to the Swiss-based Global Fund with only days left to meet David Cameron’s international aid target, because they thought that Britain’s generosity would encourage other countries to donate more.

Instead Britain was left to provide more than a fifth of the organisation’s entire budget, a stake representing twice the agreed level of giving.

It can be revealed that the Global Fund, which was set up to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria:

• Gives its 600-plus staff, all in Switzerland, an average annual remuneration