Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested Britain should copy Donald Trump and freeze foreign aid spending.
The US President paused all international aid after returning to the White House.
Former Tory MP Sir Jacob questioned whether the UK should follow suit.
The ex-Cabinet minister told GB News: “The UK is allocated a staggering £13.7 billion of your money to foreign aid.
“While the notion of supporting global development may seem noble, there have been repeated concerns about the effectiveness of such spending.
“Now we learn that £15.5 million has been committed to a climate smart jobs programme in Uganda, with the potential for an extension to £23.25 million.
“A smaller, yet equally egregious example, £50,000 was allocated to study shrimp health in Bangladesh.
“These expenditures forced us to ask, is the government entrusted with the hard-earned money of taxpayers truly justified in funding such initiatives abroad while pressing needs remain on our own shores?
“Is it time to reconsider and perhaps model ourselves on Donald Trump and cancel the whole thing?”
Sir Jacob added: “Trump and Musk have closed down USAID because they found within it so many of those sorts of examples of money being wasted. And isn’t that the problem? That it undermines confidence in this type of spending because it goes on shrimp health and climate change jobs?
“What has reduced global poverty massively since 1990 is China and India joining the trading nations. And the trade and the investment that follows trade is much greater than the overseas aid.
“The overseas aid has all these problems of favouring dictators who siphon it off, of going to weird and wacky schemes that wouldn’t be funded in this country, that gives it a bad name.
“I’m not against helping people with their health and with Rotary International and others, polio in India has been massively brought under control. Great steps have been taken. But it’s the waste of money on frivolous projects that I object to.
“I think charity is a private matter, not a matter for the state to take money from poor people in this country and give it away.”
