Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson under fire over wasted foreign aid spending — with a quarter of the budget disappearing into a ‘black hole’

BORIS Johnson came under fresh pressure over wasted foreign aid spending in his department amid claims that more than a quarter of Britain’s £13 billion aid budget “disappears in a black hole”.

The Foreign Secretary was one of three Cabinet ministers told to match the level of scrutiny undertaken by Priti Patel’s Department for International Development on overseas aid spending.

It is embarrassing for Boris as it comes just a week after his audacious bid to take over her department.

His Foreign Office department is responsible for up to eight per cent of Britain’s foreign aid budget.

And while Ms Patel has been praised for cracking down on waste and improving scrutiny of the 74 per cent of foreign aid money that’s spent by Dfid - but her action has exposed the waste and lack of transparency of other departments.

Last week she piled pressure on Mr Johnson and others to “raise their game and be accountable to UK taxpayers.”

But after publishing her crack down on private contractors who waste Dfid’s budget in Parliament today, the Lib Dems blasted the “glaring omission”of the remaining 26 per cent of foreign aid cash spent by non-Dfid departments.

Lib Dem international development spokesperson Shas Sheehan said: “No mention is made of the 30 per cent of development aid spent by other government departments.

“Most of this money seemingly disappears into a black hole, with nowhere near the level of scrutiny required by DFID.”