Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

It appears that David Cameron is getting some flak over his decision to carry on with his trip to Rwanda which has been in planning for over a year.

The Rwanda trip also involves a number of volunteers on the ground getting involved in some on the ground projects which are both helpful to the local population and a learning exercise for the volunteers.

The overall message of the trip is that Africa needs trade to get off aid. Trade makes individuals wealthy, as they get jobs, can feed themselves and move out of poverty. It also gradually makes them less accepting of the old ways of bad governance particularly as they get a bit of education and communication. In fact this is beginning to happen in some parts of Africa as highlighted by this article here, on a mobile revolution in Africa.

However, David Cameron is being criticised for going on the trip, for two days whilst there is all this flooding. Well, he has visited some flood hit areas, and all he can do really is go look, and nothing more. If he spent too much time there he could arguably get in the way of the rescue and rebuilding work.

On the other hand what would have happened if he had cancelled his trip? I have no doubt that some would criticise him for "rubber necking" at the floods, just to get his picture taken, when all he can in fact do is ask awkward questions at the next Prime ministers questions.