It started with a front page news story. On 9 February this year, The Times carried a story accusing Oxfam GB of covering up the use of prostitutes by senior aid workers in Haiti, who were there in 2011 following the earthquake the year before. By the time winter began to thaw, the scandal had mushroomed. Within a few weeks it had engulfed many of the largest and best-known charities operating in the international development sphere.

The media exposés swiftly led to parliamentary condemnation. The safeguarding scandal has since spawned an International Development Select Committee inquiry and two separate Charity Commission investigations into Oxfam and Save the Children. The scandals also provided ammunition for some on the political right to call into question the UK’s commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product on international aid.