On The Road With The Minister Tasked With Defending Britains Painful Aid Cuts To Ghana

Jenny Chapman is shown the impact of her governments ever-diminishing assistance on her first trip since taking charge of development It is mid-afternoon on an overcast day in a suburb of Accra, Ghanas capital. A crowd, including two government ministers, a World Bank director, diplomats, NGO workers and camera-wielding media, has descended upon a classroom where pupils sit around tables playing with plastic bottle tops. This is a catch-up class for out-of-school children, aged between eight and 16, run by Ghana Education Outcomes Project that is almost entirely 85 funded by the UK government. The resulting circus is because Jenny Chapman, the UKs development minister, has come to see the impact of her governments diminishing aid budget.