LETTER : Aid that goes to the wealthy

RICHARD Dowden and Stephen Castle say that "Britain can still be proud" that 70 per cent of UK bilateral aid goes to "the poorest group" ("Who are we in the world?", 26 March). On whose analysis is this figure based? Could it be the Overseas Development Administration's, which is interested in maintaining public support by presenting aid as going to the truly poor?

If so, it should be pointed out that the "poorest group" referred to is of countries and not of people. Britain's aid tends to benefit Western companies and wealthy lites in poor countries whose greed and economic mismanagement have allowed these countries to be mired in poverty in the first place.

Melissa Tucker

Brighton