Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will today outline how billions of pounds will be slashed from the UK's international aid budget, prioritising conflict zones such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. The cuts, announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in February last year, will reduce overseas development spending to 0.3% of GDP by 2027, freeing up funds for a rise in defence spending to 2.7% of GDP.
An estimated £6.1 billion will be cut from thousands of projects. Cooper will announce that 70% of all geographic support will be allocated to the most fragile and conflict-affected states. Additionally, £24 million per year will be ringfenced for projects addressing the underlying causes of illegal migration.
The decision has sparked significant backlash, with International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds resigning in protest, warning the cuts would remove food and healthcare from desperate people. Former International Development Minister Gareth Thomas said: 'In an already unsafe world, cutting aid risks alienating key allies and will make improving children’s health and education in Commonwealth countries more difficult.'
Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said the cuts have 'irreparably damaged the UK's reputation on the global stage' and will 'cost lives'. Cooper insisted that investment in global health, climate action, and women's and girls' rights would continue, and that the UK's focus would shift from being a donor to an investor.
The Foreign Office confirmed core funding of £80 million to Education Cannot Wait will continue, and partnerships with the HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group will be expanded. International Development Minister Jenny Chapman said: 'We are spending less on international development, but we are spending it better than ever.'
