MPs oppose aid cuts
Lifesaving humanitarian aid destined for Gaza: aid cuts announced by the Prime Minister last month will put such support in jeopardy.
Cuts to the UK’s Official Development Assistance announced by the Prime Minister will see UK aid drop to its lowest level in 25 years.
Members of parliament from all the main parties have expressed their opposition to the cuts.
On 25 February UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, announced a significant reduction in UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to fund increases to the UK defence budget.
The cut will see UK aid fall from 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) to 0.3%, its lowest level in 25 years.
This cut is the latest hit to the ODA budget, which just five years ago was set at 0.7% of GNI.
Politicians voice their concerns
In the wake of this announcement, members of parliament from across the political spectrum have expressd their dismay at the decision.
The Chair of the International Development Committee and IPNEd member Sarah Champion MP sent a letter to the Prime Minister on 5 March expressing the Committee’s concerns about the decision. “This brutal further cut to ODA risks undermining our soft power, as well as years of progress in areas such as healthcare, education, clean water and sustainable development. It will have dire consequences for millions of marginalised people across the world.”
On March 6 Ms Champion led a debate in the House of Commons during which she discussed the impact of the cuts on vulnerable people around the world.
Former Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell MP, has been an outspoken critic of the proposed cuts to UK development assistance.
Former Secretary of State for International Development and IPNEd member the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell spoke in the debate and has been outspoken in his opposition to the cuts.
Writing in The Independent, Mr Mitchell said, the decision to cut aid to fund defence “fundamentally misreads the mechanics of international security. If military hard power is the foundation of defence, international development – or soft power – is its bedrock. Hard and soft are two sides of the same coin; each plays a distinct yet interlinking part in the international security apparatus, and if either is depleted, the whole edifice comes undone.”
Green Party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and IPNEd member, Ellie Chowns MP has actively opposed the cuts saying, “I want to see a strong, secure UK defence policy. But I want it to be built on smart, long-term thinking, not short-sighted cuts that will only make the world more dangerous.”
The Scottish National Party Shadow Spokesperson for International Development and IPNEd member, Chris Law MP warned that the cuts will make the world more, not less, dangerous, “cuts to aid spending will result in cuts to peacebuilding, atrocity prevention and long-term conflict prevention projects that make the world a safer place.”
This was a theme which numerous members of parliament raised, including Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for International Development, Monica Harding, who said, “Through international aid and development, we invest in resilience-building and deconfliction measures across the world, because we know that preventing wars is cheaper than fighting them.”
Ms Harding was the primary sponsor for an Early Day Motion which calls on the Government to reconsider the decision and “explore alternative means to meet its defence spending commitments without cutting international aid.”
Resignation of the Minister for International Development
The decision also saw the resignation of the Minister for International Development, Anneliese Dodds MP. In her resignation letter Dodds expressed her disappointment that ODA was selected to absorb the entire burden of spending cuts needed to increase the defense budget. She warned that cuts would be deep and would likely lead to a UK pull-out from numerous nations, being shut out from multilateral bodies and a reduced voice in global negotiations.
“On the back of the cuts to US foreign assistance the cuts to UK aid will combine to form a fatal cocktail which will have devastating, long term consequences including for the education of the most marginalised children around the world,” said IPNEd Executive Director, Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly.
“The impact on UK aid for education, which has endured successive reductions, is of serious concern and we will be working to support members of the UK parliament to make the case for the UK to support education around the world,” concluded Mr. Nhan-O’Reilly.
