The government is once again failing to learn the lessons of history in remerging the Department for International Development into the Foreign Office (Three ex-PMs attack plan to merge DfID with Foreign Office, 16 June). This brings the danger that considerations other than the welfare of the people that DfID is supposed to be helping will be taken into account. One only has to think of the Pergau dam fiasco in Malaysia in the early 1990s, the economics of which were described by the then permanent secretary Sir Tim Lankester as “unambiguously bad”. The Overseas Development Administration, as it then was, refused to handle it and only did so when the foreign secretary took the rare step of instructing Lankester to go ahead with it. DfID is highly regarded around the world and flies the flag for Britain far better than when it came under the Foreign Office. The government has shown itself willing to listen to the concerns of Marcus Rashford and others. Now it’s time to listen to all the aid professionals quoted in the Guardian praising the work of the department and urging the government to rethink. Ron Fosker Chief press officer, ODA/DfID 1989-98 Witham, Essex • This is a huge step backwards. Having worked as first secretary for what was then the ODA in Bangladesh when Margaret Thatcher had put the FCO in charge, it was clear that UK politics and business were the priority, not tackling poverty and inequity. I rejoined under Clare Short when DfID was created. Under her, DfID became a world-class development department, respected across the world. How times change. Already, significant funding supports British business interests and has moved under FCO control through, for example, the Prosperity Fund. The future for aid to the poorest post-coronavirus looks grim. Dr Julian Lob-Levyt London • Boris Johnson and his government have shown their true colours. Linking DfID with the FCO turns back the clock to a paternalistic, colonial time. It will weaken aid delivery and hollow out Britain’s standing in the world. The only department in Whitehall that actually improves the lives of people across the world is DfID. Our work on behalf of the British people has seen millions lifted out of poverty, put into school, and given access to vital health services, clean water and sustainable livelihoods, and enables Britain to hold its head up in the world. Gerry Duffy (DfID staffer for over 40 years), Walton-on-Thames, Surrey • I thought when I worked with DfID in Freetown on getting 22,000 small traders on their feet again after Ebola that this was revitalising the Sierra Leonean economy, but was I only part of some “giant cashpoint in the sky”? I thought when we brought clean water and new toilets to Ethiopia with UK aid that we were improving the health of the population. I thought that when we arranged for the education for children in Syria we were bringing hope to children. Did it never occur to you, Mr Johnson, that the reason UK aid is so effective is because it insists on rigour based on outcomes – a rigour which you have demonstrated, in your mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis, that you do not care about. Did it never occur to you that the reason DfID is held in such high regard around the world is because it is independent of political influence? Mike Cashman Loughton, Milton Keynes • Hospice Africa is a small UK charity that aims to spread palliative care in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of this we received a modest grant from DfID, and working through our partner, Hospice Africa Uganda, a programme of care for terminally ill children in part of the West Nile district of Uganda was set up. This funding enabled it to leverage support from volunteers and integrate this care into local health provision. As a result, they were able to bring comfort to dying children and support their families. Now, a system of low-cost, holistic care has been established, which continues to benefit local people and is a model for others to follow. DfID’s procedures were thorough and the outcomes of the project rigorously scrutinised to justify the expenditure and show value for money. We are immensely grateful for the support that has allowed us to make a small but measurable improvement, but there was no question of having to show an advantage to trade in order to stop a child dying in agony. Prof David Phipps Honorary chair, Hospice Africa • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters