Thread Drift warning.
A Geography lecture at Uni on the subject of foreign aid still sticks in my mind. Foreign Aid is almost exclusively tied to buying goods and services from Britain with strict controls to ensure that the aid reaches the end user and bypasses corrupt officials.
On a personal note I think charity giving should be a personal decision rather than government imposed. All my charitable giving goes abroad (Sightsavers) as I believe it's important to meet basic human needs before improving the lot of poor people in a highly industrialised country like ours....so actually I approve of Foreign Aid.