'Global Britain' will disappear unless we keep spending to make the world safer and more equitable

It will only become a reality if our international standing in the world remains based on values and principles, writes Myles Wickstead

Johnson is wrong to describe the purpose of aid policy as being to 'maximise our influence' through pursuing our own narrow self-interest (EPA)

The UK currently commits 0.7 per cent of its gross national income – that is to say, 70 pence in every hundred pounds – to foreign aid. This is in line with a target adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1970. The UK achieved the target for the first time in 2013 and was the first G7 country to do so.

Other countries, such as Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, have reached the 0.7 per cent target consistently over several decades – and deserve the highest commendation for their leadership.

But the UK has been able to exert greater leverage, not just because of its record on the quantity and quality of its aid programme, but also because of its global position and influence as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, of the G7, and its own seat on the boards of the IMF and World Bank.