Starmer’s cuts are a huge mistake – foreign aid is an investment, not an expense | Halima Begum
At the height of the cold war, the west advanced its soft power through aid and development spending. If we cut that now, who will fill the vacuum?
- Halima Begum is the chief executive of Oxfam GB
The savagely deep cuts that Keir Starmer has announced to the international aid budget make a mockery of the pledge his party made to the British people in its manifesto. Then, it promised to restore development spending at the level of 0.7% of gross national income “as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”. On Tuesday the prime minister stood in front of parliament and announced that he will cut it from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP. In the same manifesto, Labour made a commitment to “rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development with a new approach based on genuine respect and partnership with the global south”. This week, the government turned its back on it.
Of course, I understand the argument that defence spending has to be increased, but cutting our aid budget still further when governments around the world are cutting theirs too will only increase division in our already deeply divided world. More than that, cutting aid amounts to a collective betrayal of the most vulnerable and dispossessed by western leaders.
Dr Halima Begum is the chief executive of Oxfam GB
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