Under fire: Brown

The chancellor come under fire after calling for more EU financial aid to be directed to the poorest countries.

Speaking at a meeting of British aid agencies, Gordon Brown called for less support to go to middle income areas.

He argued that middle income countries, such as the western Balkans, receive €28 per head, compared with €3 per head for poorer countries in Africa and €0.3 per head for those in Asia.

It is "nonsensical that less than 50 per cent of EU development aid was spent on low income countries", he said.

But outgoing EU commissioner Chris Patten, who holds the external affairs portfolio, said the chancellor was making a "ludicrous argument", by "comparing apples with oranges".

He said Brown was comparing "the things that [foreign secretary] Jack Straw is in favour of, like spending money in Iraq, with the things that [international development secretary] Hilary Benn is in favour of like spending money in the poorest parts of Africa".

"I don't believe it's the British government's policy that we should stop spending money in Kosovo... or in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank," he added.

But Patten did reveal that he is planning to recommend to EU finance ministers that conventional funding and development assistance should be given different legal bases.

Brown's comments were supported by international development minister Gareth Thomas.

"What we want the commission to do is review how they could best allocate their funding worldwide to meet all their objectives - one of which is to get more money to low income countries... where the needs of the very poorest are most acute," he said.

Loans could be offered to middle income countries in regions such as North Africa and the Balkans, shifting the money saved to the poorest regions, he added.