International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has recently admitted in an interview with the Daily Mail that the UK has cut funding to Malawi by £19 million after two gay men were sentenced to 14 years in prison last May.
Other countries on the UK’s watch list include Ghana ,due to receive $56 million in aid, where earlier this year Western Region Minister Paul Evans Aidoo called for the arrest of all gay people and Uganda, which has proposed a “Kill The Gays” bill, and is due to receive $109 million this year.
A spokesman for Mitchell told the Daily Mail: “The Government is committed to combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in all circumstances, in this country and abroad. We take action where we have concerns. We now allocate funds every three months, rather than every year, so that we can review a country’s performance, for example on human rights, and take swift action when governments fall short. We only provide aid directly to governments when we are satisfied that they share our commitments to reduce poverty and respect human rights.”