TAXPAYERS’ cash is being blown on studying whiteness in South America and helping women called “witches” to sing, a dossier reveals.

An investigation found £16.5 million is being spent on 21 “woke” research projects at UK unis.

They include almost £85k on a Newcastle University project called “Combating Witchcraft-Related Violence through Song”.

It looks at how singing helps elderly women in South Africa abused for being a “witch” due to their ageing features.

Over £1million has been earmarked for a University of Nottingham project “decolonising” photos from British Malaya.

A further £246k has been put aside for Sheffield University to develop a city tour app exploring “whiteness” in statues and monuments in Chile. 

Nearly £783k is being spent by Queen Mary University of London on a scheme looking at “Military Decarbonisation”.

And £379k is going towards a Birkbeck College programme on children’s crafting in West Africa. 

Cash was handed out by quango UK Research and Innovation.

They were uncovered by founder of Doge UK Charlotte Gill, who said taxpayers will be “fuming” to see where their cash goes.

She said: “Unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of similar taxpayer-funded grants being awarded under the UKRI – never mind the vast sums spent on the rest of the public sector.”

A UKRI spokesperson said: “International research collaboration is vital to help us tackle global challenges in a complex and interconnected world, improving security and prosperity in the UK and internationally.

“Projects are prioritised for funding through independent expert peer review, as set out in the Higher Education and Research Act.”