AID to developing countries does work. It saves lives, gives people the chance to earn a better living and reduces immigration to rich countries.

As a result of aid, enrolment rates of children in primary schools rose from 58 per cent to 76 per cent between 1999 and 2010. Reported malaria cases fell by more than 50 per cent between 2000 and 2010 in 43 countries with malaria problems.

China and India are no longer low-income countries and even some countries in Africa, such as Ghana and Zambia, are reaching middle-income status.

Mr Beisly (Letters, June 13) is right that there is always a risk that aid will be misused.

This is why the UK Government and the previous Labour Government put so much effort into checking how the aid is spent, and raising the standards of government in developing countries to ensure their audit processes are better able to identify fraud.

Hugh Bayley MP