I was very sad to read in Richard Drax’s column last Friday, May 20, that he would ‘go further’ than Liam Fox regarding the UK overseas aid budget, and ‘drop it’ completely.

He defends this view with the claim from the Taxpayers Alliance that the money saved would fund 36 hospitals or 450 schools in the UK.

He also mentions the threatened cuts to the ‘lollipop ladies’.

As a parent of three school-aged children, I have supported the local campaign to keep the lollipop patrols who ensure a safe and healthy journey to school for our children.

Perhaps the point Mr Drax is missing is that our children do have a school and teachers and resources at the end of that journey – a point which many people in the country do appreciate and are profoundly grateful for.

The money that he wishes to deny the Department for International Development will go towards helping achieve the Millennium Develop- ment goals by 2015, one of which is ‘to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling’.

Giving to those less fortunate than us even in tough financial times is a mark of our character as a nation.

The UK is one of only three G8 countries on track to reach its aid targets – something we should see as an honourable achievement rather than regretting or begrudging it.

Backtracking on our commitment will leave millions of poor and vulnerable people across the world in a dire situation.

Poor people are working hard to challenge and change their own situation – we must keep our promises so UK aid supports their efforts and changes the lives of millions.

Charity may very well begin at home, but it certainly shouldn’t stop there.

Elisabeth Orrell, Coldharbour, Chickerell