When Rishi Sunak cut the aid budget during the Covid pandemic from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP, it was described by Larry Elliott in the Guardian as an act of “wilful political vandalism” (29 November 2020). This was partly because the amount saved, £3bn-£4bn, was “chickenfeed” in the context of a budget deficit running at 20% of GDP, but mostly because it completely undermined “the idea of aid as global public investment for the common good”.
Keir Starmer’s aid cut is even more cynical, as your editorial (25 February) correctly identifies, because it is self-imposed without any economic logic to gain political traction in the Trumpian unilateralist world order. The moral bankruptcy of this approach was particularly evident in Elon Musk gleefully posting on X that “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper”. Starmer’s “aid for arms” announcement may find favour in the White House, but it will destroy the Labour government’s reputation and undermine multilateral approaches to poverty eradication when they are needed most.
Stephen McCloskey
Director, Centre for Global Education, Belfast
