The UK Government will hand over even more taxpayer money to abortion giant Marie Stopes International, it has been revealed.
Despite receiving over £48 million from the UK taxpayer in 2018, the abortion provider will receive more taxpayer money because of its decision to furlough 9% of its total London support office workforce (23 staff).
Under the furlough scheme, the UK Government will cover up to 80% of a furloughed employee’s wages until the end of June at the earliest.
In the case of MSI, which will not be topping up the salaries of furloughed staff to 100% pay, this could cost the UK taxpayer an additional £230,000.
This figure, while significant, is just a small percentage of what MSI receives from the UK Government each year and is just a fraction of their Chief Executive’s salary.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) is the largest single donor to MSI, giving the international abortion provider a staggering £48,173,000 in 2018 – an increase of 5,000% since 2006 when they received a still sizeable £905,000.
Financial statements for the company, found in Companies House, reveal that DfID has given over £300 million worth of taxpayers’ money to MSI, since 2006, with over 75% of that total being given from 2014 – 2018 (more recent financial data is not yet public).
In 2018, DfID contributions to MSI accounted for over 16% of their entire £296,849,000 income. This figure represents a dramatic increase from 2006, where DfID provided 1.5% of MSI’s income for that year and makes the UK Government MSI’s single biggest donor.
The total financial contributions from DfID do not include any money the Government provides for Marie Stopes’ abortion provision in the UK.
This huge increase in DfID contributions came at the same time that MSI performed almost 5 million abortions globally and rewarded its chief executive Simon Cooke for doing so by doubling his salary to £434,500.
The amount that Mr Cooke was paid in 2018 would put him in the top 10 highest earners in the charity sector.
However, his impressive salary and bonus come off the back of a series of scandals in the past few years where inspectors have found “dead foetuses lying in an open bin”; evidence of high pressure sales tactics to get women to have abortions; and cases of doctors pre-signing consent forms.
MSI says providing abortion is “at the core of our mission” and boasts of “shaping abortion policy” in several countries.Polling shows 65% of the British population are opposed to taxpayer’s money being used to fund abortions overseas.
