SPEND AND SAVE..

For me at any rate, nothing is so precious in this world as children...I should know - Mrs. Snopper and I have three sons and four and a half grandchildren (the fifth might arrive some time in December.)   And although we still revel in the company of our three sons, now well into their 40s, the years when they were small children were possibly the happiest I have known.   They were loved and enjoyed, which is what children are meant to be.

So you won`t find me quarreling with Britain`s latest muti-million pound contribution towards providing vaccines and immunisation to protect some of the world`s poorest children from early year killer diseases.   Money well spent, especially when saving 1.7million young lives last year that would otherwise have been lost.

But there are those who bleat the gospel that charity begins at home and that we should stop spending millions of taxpayers money on overseas aid.   Well, of course, there`s overseas aid and there`s overseas aid.   The kind I object to is the shedloads we give each year to countries such as India and Pakistan, the benefits of which are at best dubious and at worst unneccesary, since India at least should be able to afford to look after their own.   And there are others, such as Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, etc., where corrupt dictatorships see to it that any aid we might be giving soon gets lost in a maze of graft, backhanders and syphoning towards doubtful purchases so that little, if any, reaches its indended target.

So here`s a suggestion.   By all means increase the amount we give towards helping the underprivileged children of the world, since it seems to be accountably managed by GAVI, but reduce the aid we give to countries under the heading of `general expenses` - I`m sure there is one - by the same amount.  That way we don`t actually spend any more but we ensure our cash goes to where it can do most good.

One of our most endearing qualities as a nation is a rare talent for having no sense of priority.  For me, arguably the most important priority in my life has been and will continue to be children.   I think I might just have my priorities right?