Appointments will be ratified by the Secretary of State for International Development.

UNESCO: Seeking two new Non Executive Directors

Mr Dobson's defence came as the Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, backed Mr Dobson in an article in the Guardian newspaper.

BBC: I'm not backed by stooges, says Dobson

Mark Lancaster MP, parliamentary secretary to Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, visited the island himself in 2009 and stressed the long-term benefits.

BBC: England's St Helena exiles welcome island airport project

Indeed, according to Hilary Benn, Britain's secretary of state for international development, the open and transparent way in which it behaves has increased donor confidence.

ECONOMIST: The Global Fund

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, said the report showed the UK public's support brought a "vital lifeline" to communities across the Indian Ocean.

BBC: UK aid 'left legacy' after 2004 tsunami in Asia

On September 13th, six days before the Singapore meeting, Hilary Benn, the British Secretary of State for International Development, announced that the United Kingdom was withholding from the World Bank a fifty-million-pound payment, to protest the conditions the bank attached to aid.

NEWYORKER: The Next Crusade