Keir Starmer is set to face the wrath of Labour MPs over confirmation of significant cuts to overseas development aid (ODA).
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is expected to make an announcement to parliament on Thursday over reduced allocations for aid, more than a year after the prime minister announced plans to reduce the funds from 0.5 per cent of GDP to 0.3 per cent by 2027.
The ODA budget was reduced to 0.48 per cent in 2025/26, then will drop to 0.37 per cent in 2026/27, and will be a mere 0.3 per cent in 2027/28.
Ahead of the statement, former international development minister Gareth Thomas, the Labour MP for Harrow West, issued a warning to the government that it was leaving the door open for malign foreign powers such as China to fill the space left by the UK.
He 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.
“We risk creating more opportunities for regimes who don’t share our values.
“Our security depends not just on a stronger military but also on building soft power so that our soldiers aren’t needed.”
Mr Thomas’s intervention reflects growing unease on the Labour backbenches about the policy which only leaves guaranteed funding for Ukraine, Gaza, the UK’s Overseas Territories and Sudan. It is believed that protections for women and girls will also be maintained.
In a post on X, overseas development committee chair Sarah Champion warned: “I fear for the international impact, not least to our reputation.”
Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global Health Security Dr Beccy Cooper said: “Labour is, and always has been, a party of internationalism. When we step back from our shared commitments, we lose both our strength and our standing in the world. We are a softpower superpower and we should be proud of that.
"These spending plans put Britain and the world at risk. When health systems in the poorest countries are not supported to become resilient, diseases spread faster and further. Protecting public health at home means investing in strong health systems everywhere."
The cuts are the latest issue to spark discontent among Labour MPs in a week where a speech by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner describing draconian plans to control immigration as “un-British” have ignited another civil war within the party.
With Labour losing the crucial Gorton and Denton by-election to the Greens and coming third behind Reform in what had been the party’s seventh safest seat, Labour MPs are actively discussing replacing the prime minister in a bid to move left.
One senior backbencher said: “The issue on overseas aid is just another example of the way this government has moved away from Labour values.”
Under Tony Blair the party had brought in the international standard that 0.7 per cent of GDP should be spent on overseas development, a target maintained by David Cameron’s Tory government and only reduced to 0.5 per cent by Rishi Sunak after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision to chop the amount further has seen her attacked by senior Tories including former minister Andrew Mitchell as well as Labour MPs.
Previously, The Independent revealed how key figures, including international development committee chair Sarah Champion and business committee chair Liam Byrne, signed a letter calling for the government to commit billions more to the budget, with a roadmap back to 0.7 per cent.
The was having to make the cuts because of the state of the public finances left behind by the Tories.
The Independent has approached the Treasury and the FCDO for further comment.
This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project
