UK: Cutting aid will not balance the books, it will cost lives

The Prime Minister has announced that the UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be reduced from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI by 2027 to fund a greater investment in defence. ONE issued the following statement in response:

“The Prime Minister’s statement today is devastating. Defence spending needs to increase – but funding it by slashing international aid is politically self-defeating, legally dubious, economically incoherent and morally indefensible,” said Adrian Lovett, Executive Director for the UK at The ONE Campaign. “Less than one penny in every pound of government spending goes on aid – less than a fifth of what we already spend on defence. The UK’s aid programme is a set of commitments to partners around the world. Deep and sudden cuts will create huge problems for the delivery of vital health services, humanitarian assistance, and programmes to deal with the impact of conflict and climate change.

“The devastating impact of these cuts will hurt some of the world’s most vulnerable people – and it will make Britain weaker too. The government must look at other ways to fund this.”