I was completely wrong when I was a Minister at DfiD about how powerful it can be to give money directly to people in extreme poverty. More at @_Will_Brown & The Life You Can Save

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave With respect, I think what you are describing @RoryStewartUK is going from a judgement about addressing poverty based on perceived “wisdom” to one based on actual evidence. Could your views on austerity and conservative economics be equally outdated?

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave FFS it's not about charity. It's about paying people a wage that they can live on without being propped up by benefits.

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave You make some excellent points at the end, but don’t address the first. Tax payers, rightly, will recoil from the redistribution of their tax pounds in such a fashion. Auditing is close to impossible, and the scope for corruption huge.

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave Corruption less so. No governments or middle people involved. Money directly to recipients phones - used as mobile money…

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave I think the same arguments can be applied at home. Giving cash to poor people can help the local economy. Poor people will always spend it rather than stash it away and it is generally spent in the local economy.

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave Read the Wikipedia on Dolly Parton, after a devastating fire she gave $1,000 per month for 6 months and $5,000 at the end. University of Tennessee wrote paper on benefit of unconditional cash gifts.

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave Research and experience should change our minds. I admire people who have the sense and humility to say " I was wrong then, now I know more".

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave Brilliant, well done what’s the point of having a mind if you can’t change it 🥳🤗👍

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave It's a crying shame a lot of the bigger charity CEOs are on 150k + salaries if more people start giving cash direct a lot more people could be helped. I personally would rather hand my money to a homles man on the street

@_Will_Brown @LifeYouCanSave Oh, this is great. You see, Tories often can't help it - they were born like it. We cannot tar all Tories with the same brush of despicability. They are not all despicable. And some of them are getting it. Slowly slowly.