In the last two days, you have published letters opposing foreign aid and both correspondents have tried to justify their opposition by quoting the saying, ‘charity begins at home’.

This makes my blood boil.

In the first place they have completely misunderstood the expression, the first known example of which was in the 14th century, “charity begins with himself”.

This uses the original use of the word charity an example of which is in the King James Bible. This usage means love, as in "he that gives all his processions to the poor but has not charity."

Thus charity begins at home means one must love oneself before it is possible to love others.

The more mean spirited usage meaning I only give anything to my own, is probably attributable to an unpleasant Dickens character in Martin Chuzzlewit.

This reflects a strange double attitude in Victorian society with workhouses and demonisation of the poor set against the setting up of the great charities such as Barnados.

The government has legislated to give 0.07 per cent of the GDP as foreign aid – that is 1/70th of each penny.

If you took a penny and filed one side smooth you would have removed more than that.

I don’t know about other readers but when I buy something that is priced whatever and 99p, I always put the penny change in the charity box by the till, because I do not want my trousers pulled down by lots of copper coins.

How mean spirited is it then to object to 1/70th of a penny, the merest shaving of a penny, being spent on foreign aid.

Steve Thompson Norman Road Swindon