‘Give Kohinoor, $45 trillion back’: Netizens slam British anchor who asked India to return £2.3 billion after Chandrayaan-3

Netizens slammed a British anchor who asked India to return the £2.3 billion Britain provided between 2016 and 2021 as foreign aid. He said that any country that can afford to go to the Moon does not need foreign aid. Users of X, formerly known as Twitter, were having none of it. They responded to the demand and asked the Kohinoor back, along with $45 trillion that Britain is estimated to have taken out of India during the colonial rule. 

Patrick Christys, presenter for GB News, said, “I would like to congratulate India for landing on the dark side of the Moon. I would also like to now invite India to return the £2.3 billion of foreign aid money that we sent them between 2016 and 2021. We are also set to give them £57 million pounds next year and I think the British taxpayer should keep hold of that, don’t you? We should not be giving money to countries with a space programme. As a rule, if you can afford to fire a rocket to the dark side of the Moon, you shouldn’t be coming to us with your hand out.”

The British anchor then quoted the UN to state that India has the highest number of poor people in the world but it is the 5th largest economy with an annual GDP of around $3.75 trillion. “Why are we paying to help poverty-stricken Indians when their own government won’t bother?” he asked.

Irate X users clapped back and demanded the return of the Kohinoor. Many also cited a report published by Columbia University Press that puts the amount Britain took out of India during its colonial rule at a staggering $45 trillion. The report was authored by economist Utsa Patnaik who, in a collection of essays, had stated that the East India Company and the British Raj took out £9.2 trillion (or $44.6 trillion) between 1765 and 1938. 

Watch: Tech Mahindra’s CP Gurnani, BoAt’s Aman Gupta, Oyo Rooms’ Ritesh Agarwal, UpGrad’s Ronnie Screwvala, Mamaearth's Ghazal Alagh celebrate ISRO-led Chandrayaan-3 landing on Moon: India Inc on X (Twitter)

All desi X users pointed out the amount, and some called for the £2.3 billion to be deducted from the £9.2 trillion or $44.6 trillion and return what is owed.

The figure of £2.3 billion quoted by the presenter comes from a report by Independent Commission for Aid Impact, the watchdog that scrutinises UK aid spending. It had, in a report this year, said, “All told, we calculate that around £2.3 billion in UK aid went to India between 2016 and 2021, including £441 million in bilateral aid, £129 million in investments via FCDO in Indian enterprises which generate returns, £749 through multilateral channels, and £1 billion in investments through BII.”

However, it is not only India that Patrick Christys had a problem with when it comes to foreign aid. He said that Britain gave away £48 million to China, the second largest economy in the world, in 2022. 

“The Moon appears to be a theme in foreign aid because China, which also has a space programme, was looking at creating a giant fake Moon to hover over crops at night, brightening the sky and boosting crop production. If you are doing stuff like that, you don’t need foreign aid,” he said. The presenter listed other foreign aid too, including to Syria and Pakistan. He said that the aid given to these countries are suspected to have made it to the hands of terrorist organisations. 

The GB News presenter called it “foreign aid wastage” and calculated it to be somewhere in the range of £11-12 billion. 

“Just think about where all of this money could be spent. Our economic growth has stagnated, we don’t have enough houses, prisons, doctors, nurses, teachers or all the facilities for any of those professions. This is a slap in the face of taxpayers. The world is laughing at Britain over this and the British government is laughing at us,” he said. 

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