Is Boris Johnson going to reverse the cut in foreign aid?

Conservative rebels in parliament claim to have the numbers to force a government U-turn, writes John Rentoul

Ruth Davidson, former Scottish Tory leader, wants the aid cut restored (Getty)

The rebellion in the Conservative Party against the cut in the foreign aid budget is gathering pace, with Ruth Davidson, the party’s former leader in Scotland and soon to be a peer, warning against being seen as the “nasty party” if the government persists in the reduction.

It seems that Boris Johnson will be unable to avoid a vote in the Commons on the issue after he was warned by Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, that it was wrong for the government to deny MPs a vote on such an important issue. What the speaker did not add is that the government is likely to lose such a vote, because there are about 50 Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, who want to restore the cut.

However, it is too late to avoid the reduction in aid spending in this, the current fiscal year, because that has already been implemented by the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office under orders from the Treasury. This year the budget has been cut to about 0.5 per cent of national income, rather than the 0.7 per cent target, which was set under the last Labour government and finally achieved when David Cameron was prime minister.