...comes from member of the Commons international development select committee and former Foreign Office minister John Battle in an interview with this website.

"I've got an Early Day Motion down suggesting faster progress to the target of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid, and there's a conversation going on with the chancellor and that conversation is moving on, I'm glad to say.

"In terms of the public, I think they would be prepared to see Gordon Brown give a greater share of the cake to development, so we reach these targets. But I also think, would the people themselves increase their giving? And the answer, I think, is yes.

"And that's why Gordon Brown has done things to boost giving through gift aid and extra tax relief measures. So it's not that the government is going out to collect one per cent from all the people and do all the administration, but if they want to give to Christian Aid, or Cafod or Islamic Relief, then actually it is beneficial to them and that their generosity is acknowledged in their tax system.

"I see no reason why we shouldn't do that and that's the road that Gordon Brown has opened up in recent times."