Cutting aid to 'anti-gay' nations: Britain's 'bold and necessary' plan

British Prime Minister David Cameron is slashing foreign aid to African nations that persecute gays and lesbians. Is that money well-saved?

British Prime Minister David Cameron cut Malawi's foreign aid by $30 million after the African nation sentenced a gay couple to 14 months of hard labor for holding an engagement party.
(Image credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Britian's Conservative government is taking a "tough love" approach to foreign aid, threatening to withhold millions of dollars to countries that persecute gays and lesbians. The southern African nation of Malawi has already had its payments sliced by about $30 million, after it sentenced a gay couple to 14 months of hard labor for holding an engagement party. Fellow "anti-gay" countries Uganda and Ghana could lose millions, too. "I want Britain to be a global beacon for reform," says Prime Minister David Cameron. Is this a good use of foreign aid?

Bravo, Cameron: This is a "bold and necessary move" on Britain's part, and other countries should follow suit, says Brandon Rolph at Instinct. Plenty of African leaders brutally persecute gays, and homosexuality might even be punishable by death soon in Uganda. That's unacceptable, and "since it seems like money is the only thing that politicians can understand," Cameron is certainly "coming at this problem from the right angle."

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