Latest news with #overseasaid
Sky News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
PM warned that attempts to prevent conflict will be harmed by cuts to overseas aid budget
Former spymasters, military chiefs and leading politicians are among a group of more than 60 public figures to sign a letter urging the prime minister to allocate more of the UK's reduced overseas aid budget to preventing wars. A failure to act risks leaving the government facing what they described as a "global conflict crisis" with "one hand tied behind its back". The letter to Sir Keir Starmer, shared with Sky News, said violent conflict is impacting more countries across the globe than at any time since the Second World War. "They are disrupting economies and diverting the world's attention away from human rights, climate change and gender equality," according to the letter, signed by, among others, Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller and Lord Jonathan Evans, former director generals of MI5, and Lord Mark Sedwill, a former national security adviser. 1:55 "To durably strengthen national security, therefore, the government must invest not just in defence, but also in development and diplomacy." The group is not calling on the prime minister to reverse a decision to shrink the overseas aid budget to 0.3% of GDP from 0.5% by 2027 to fund an increase in defence spending. Instead, they are focused on the proportion of the diminished international development budget that is spent on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The ratio had been 4% of total overseas aid spending in 2018. But the level has shrunk to between 1 and 1.5% today, according to Lord Jack McConnell, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, which organised the letter. The group wants the proportion to be returned to the equivalent of 4%. "Without this, the UK might risk facing the global conflict crisis with one hand tied behind its back," the letter warned. The signatories said they would like to see an all-of-government approach to tackling violent conflict to be included in an upcoming national security strategy, which is due to be published before a NATO summit next week. Among the other people to sign the letter are General Lord Richard Dannatt, a former head of the army, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston KCB, a former head of the Royal Air Force, Tan Dhesi MP, chair of the defence select committee, and Sarah Champion MP, chair of the international development committee. Conflict prevention and resolution efforts that the UK has in the past championed include helping to secure peace agreements in the Philippines, Colombia and Ethiopia. Another initiative is the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda. "We are gravely concerned that these initiatives may disappear amidst cuts to the aid budget," the letter said. "This would be a false economy, as conflicts left to escalate and spread will lead to further insecurity, forced displacement and humanitarian crises to which the armed forces and aid agencies must respond."
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
This short-sighted cut to foreign aid will come back to haunt the UK
There was no comfort in today's spending review for those across all parties who care about international development. The reduction of Britain's overseas aid budget to meagre 0.3 per cent will come back to haunt us. There are plenty of people who argue that cutting overseas aid should not overly concern us. Why should foreign people in distant countries profit from the UK taxpayers' hard-earned money? If any aspect of our budget is expendable, surely it is this. But much is missing from this simplistic analysis. Aid is not about giving handouts. It is about connecting the dots between conditions abroad and the UK's serious challenges on health, security and migration. Indeed the whole point of international development is to improve social conditions in vulnerable countries to contain the scourge of disease, conflict and extremism – all of which in turn step up the pressure on our borders. Morality aside, aid is a strategic investment of the highest, if not the most glamorous, order. We hear a great deal about the need to 'stop the boats.' And rightly so — irregular migration through small boat crossings is dangerous and deeply unsettling for the British public. But while deterrents and enforcement may grab headlines, they will never solve the problem alone. If we are serious about reducing irregular migration, we must first tackle the reasons that people feel they have no choice but to leave their homes. And that's exactly where well-targeted aid can play a decisive role. New research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy provides compelling evidence. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a marked improvement in public services like healthcare and education was linked to a 27 per cent drop in migration intentions. In countries affected by conflict or climate stress — such as Sudan, Afghanistan or Syria — aid that stabilises fragile regions, supports livelihoods, or helps farmers adapt to a changing climate can reduce future displacement. Most of the people arriving in small boats today come from countries facing humanitarian crises. They're not mainly economic opportunists — they're often fleeing instability, poverty, or violence. When we invest in making those regions safer and more secure, we reduce the push factors that fuel irregular migration. Investing in development abroad also means protecting ourselves from future threats. There is growing evidence to support the link between development spending and our own security. Again, research from the Kiel Institute found that improving basic services, for example, reduces the aspiration to migrate: In Sub-Saharan Africa, a marked improvement in public services (such as health and education) was linked to the 27 per cent lower intentions to migrate. Similarly, aid that's used to stabilise fragile regions can prevent renewed conflict with mass movement and with far-reaching security repercussions. I still find it difficult to believe that a Labour government has raided the aid budget to plug short-term spending gaps. While I did not expect a return to 0.7 per cent of development spending any time soon, I genuinely believed that Sir Keir Starmer would stand by his manifesto commitment and had the strategic nous to protect the remnants of a budget that has been persistently plucked and picked at. Robbing Peter to pay Paul might play well populistically, not least in an age where the pulse-racing demands of social media are at odds with the slow-burn tempo of international development transformations – but make no mistake, it is a proverbial shot in the foot. Finally, we can't escape the human tragedy that the aid cuts will unleash. An old African proverb says "the axe forgets, but the tree remembers". International development has been denigrated and delegitimised over the years in a burgeoning climate of narrow nationalism flourishing from a broken international system. Those responsible for riding that populist wave will soon move on. But the people left behind will carry this for years to come. We too will suffer.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Diminished UK aid budget is ‘new normal', says development minister
The UK's drastically diminished aid budget is the 'new normal,' the development minister, Jenny Chapman, has said, as she claimed Labour's approach would help repair voters' faith in overseas aid. Lady Chapman took up her post in February, after Anneliese Dodds resigned in protest at Keir Starmer's decision to slash overseas aid spending to 0.3% of gross national income from 0.5%, to pay for increased defence spending. Chapman said as she and her team go through the aid budget line by line, seeking deep cuts, they were not treating the belt-tightening as temporary. 'I'm not making my choices, thinking, 'Oh, we've got to get through the next 18 months, two years and then we'll be back to where we were'. I'm making decisions thinking that this is the new normal and we have to make this work,' she said, repeatedly referring to what she called a '0.3 world'. Chapman was the MP for Darlington from 2010 until 2019, when she lost her seat in Boris Johnson's landslide general election victory. She was ennobled by Starmer in 2021. Speaking in her spacious room in the Foreign Office, she acknowledged the dismay among many longtime supporters of development over the scale of Labour's cuts, but claimed the sector needed to work differently to win back wavering public support. 'I think the aid sector does amazing work and there are incredible people who've spent their lives working to make the world a better place,' she said. 'At the same time, the truth is that the confidence that the public once had in this agenda has faded, and we need to be honest with ourselves about that. And I will work with them to improve that situation.' 'I'm not going to shy away from tough messages when I think they need to be made.' Before the 20-year anniversary of the Gleneagles G8 summit, at which the UK secured significant progress on aid and debt relief, Chapman claimed Labour can still lead on these issues. 'I'm very proud that the last Labour government led thinking around development. We have to do the same now and we have to shape what development looks like for the next 20 years. That is the job.' Chapman attracted criticism earlier in the week for suggesting in an appearance at the cross-party international development committee that the UK had for too long been viewed as a 'global charity'. But speaking after her grilling by the committee, she insisted that even without the necessity of making cuts, the way the government works with developing countries needed significant reform. 'African governments are saying they want partnership, not paternalism. So they want more control over what happens in their country,' she said. Chapman suggested the UK's new approach, within straitened resources, would involve sharing UK expertise and encouraging private sector investment. 'This morning I was in the City with our new investment taskforce,' she said, citing 'lots of enthusiasm, lots of possibilities.' Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion She also underlined the urgency of cutting the cost of supporting asylum seekers in the UK, which accounted for 20% of the overseas aid budget in 2024. Chapman is part of a joint working group with the Home Office aiming to reduce the budget in this area. 'They need to move further and faster because that's not good use of that money. They would agree with that,' she said. Asked where the cuts will fall, Chapman refused to make any specific budget commitments, but said the UK would prioritise humanitarian aid. She also hinted at other areas the government might focus on, including the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) arm, which gives grants and loans to low-income countries, and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi). 'Money that's spent by the World Bank, you get £10 invested for every £1 that we put in. That's a good use of money. The IDA fund performs very well, it's got proven evidence based of having an impact,' she said. 'We are one of the biggest, if not the biggest donors to Gavi; it works, it's saved hundreds of thousands, millions of lives.' The UK committed £1.98bn over three years to IDA at the end of 2024, before the budget cuts were announced, but it has since been suggested that promise is 'under review'. Gavi has a pledging conference at which the UK will be expected to set out its contribution. Chapman also praised the BBC World Service, amid reports that the government is demanding budget cuts. 'We don't know what the exact allocations are going to be yet. We're working through those numbers, but what I would say is that the World Service do tremendous work that nobody else can do,' she said, calling it 'an absolute gold standard resource'.
Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Bill Gates: Elon Musk's cuts will kill a million children
The planet's formerly wealthiest person is not happy with the current one. Bill Gates said: 'The image of the world's richest man taking steps that over time will kill over a million children? It is a pretty stark one.' Elon Musk, who has overseen massive cuts to the US overseas aid budget, 'has not been out to see kids dying', Gates added. In his work with his foundation, Gates is, conversely, rather familiar with children dying. Thanks in part to Musk, he thinks there will soon be more of them. Each year, with all the diligence of a business, the Gates Foundation runs the numbers for its key performance indicators. Five million children die every year in the developing world before their fifth birthday.
Sky News
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Minister resigns over cut to international aid budget
International development minister Anneliese Dodds has quit her post over Sir Keir Starmer's decision to slash the overseas aid budget to pay for an increase in defence spending. Ms Dodds posted on X: "It is with sadness that I have had to tender my resignation as Minister for International Development and for Women and Equalities. While I disagree with the ODA decision, I continue to support the government and its determination to deliver the change our country needs." Around £6bn per year will be taken out of the aid budget and transferred over to pay for defence. That amounts to a reduction in aid spending from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3%. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
