FILE – In this Nov. 10, 2020 file photo British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
By Nicholas Cecil
Boris Johnson was today hit with a wave of protests over plans being discussed for Britain to cuts its spending on overseas aid as the world reels from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick argued that the move was a “legitimate choice” to consider at a “unique time” given the hundreds of billions being spent on dealing with the impact of the coronavirus crisis. However, the proposal was immediately condemned by senior Conservative and Labour MPs.
Asked whether he would support cutting Britain’s overseas aid budget from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.5 per cent, he told LBC Radio: “We will have to consider it carefully but what is undoubtedly true is that we have spent hundreds of billions of pounds this year in order to protect the British public as best as we can from the effects of coronavirus so the public finances are in their worst position that they have been in in my lifetime so difficult choices are necessary.
“So, the Chancellor will have to think very carefully about whether this is something that he wants to deploy at this unique time. “All of us want the UK to play its role in the international community and we have a great reputation for the work that we do through our international development agencies.
“So, we would not want to compromise that in the long term but I think there is a legitimate choice for the UK as to whether in the immediate situation we find ourselves in, we want to consider our options. Pressed on whether he could support a cut, he added: “It’s a legitimate question for us to be asking at this moment in time whether or not it would be wise to spend somewhat less in light of the fact that the public finances are in a really challenging situation. That’s the choice that the Chancellor will have to make in the next few weeks.”
However, former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, Tory MP for Sutton Coldfield, told The Standard: “The whole point about the 0.7 is that it is not a fixed sum but a reflection of the state of our economy . “If our economy is suffering – as it so clearly is during this dreadful pandemic – then development spending reduces accordingly and rightly shares in that economic pain.
“I do not think Parliament will easily reverse that moral and legal position – nor is it in our national interest to do so.”
The Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto states: “We will proudly maintain our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on development, and do more to help countries receiving aid become self-sufficient.” Sarah Champion, Labour chairwoman of the Commons International Development, slammed the proposed cut.
She tweeted: “Foreign aid spending faces cut to pay for Covid crisis. This would do untold damage to our international reputation at the exact moment we are trying to showcase Global Britain.”
Source: Evening Standard