Further £800m cut in UK overseas aid spending ‘snuck out’ by ministers

Reduction comes days after Jeremy Hunt pledged to remain world leader ‘in tackling global poverty’

A further £800m is being slashed from the UK’s overseas aid spending, days after Jeremy Hunt pledged that the country would remain a world leader “in tackling global poverty”.

The 30 per cent cut in direct aid to needy countries – for the next two years – follows those projects being hit by a steep budget cut last year, a senior MP warned.

Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons international development committee, also accused the foreign secretary James Cleverly of burying the bad news as he announced that a “pause” on non-essential spending was being lifted.