Britain is paying professional aid staff up to £1,000 a day to work in Africa and Asia as part of a spending frenzy to meet a government target.
Spending on consultants has doubled in the past four years to £1.4 billion, with the bill for outside help now eating up more than 10 per cent of the aid budget.
The figures prompted anger. “When people think of overseas aid they think of people who have had their homes damaged by an earthquake, a hurricane or a tsunami — they don’t expect to be lining the pockets of consultant fat cats,” said Philip Davies, the Tory candidate for Shipley.
“This is what happens when you are judged only by how much you are spending. How you