THE government has faced fresh calls to tax the super-rich to tackle global inequality after new figures showed it is still diverting a large chunk of foreign aid to cover asylum-seeker costs at home.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) published provisional statistics on how aid funds were spent last year.

It reported that UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending was £14 billion (0.5 per cent of gross national income), compared to £15.3bn (0.58 per cent GNI), the year before.