Tories warn Rishi Sunak not to cut overseas aid in middle of global pandemic

Fears reduction in 0.7 per cent target could be made permanent as government readies legislation

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to cut pay and aid (Getty Images)

The government has been warned against cutting overseas aid in the middle of a global pandemic amid fears that a planned reduction to assistance for the world's poorest could be made permanent.

Senior Conservatives are the latest to criticise the move, with former international development secretary Justine Greening and Ruth Davidson backing the existing spending pledge, which was introduce by David Cameron.

Britain currently spends 0.7 per cent of its gross national income on international aid, but the chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce that spending will be cut below that level.

The plan was expected to be a temporary budget-saving measure, but news that the government is readying legislation to amend the legally binding 0.7 per cent target entirely has raised fears that the cut could be made permanent.

Former Scottish Tory leader Ms Davidson wrote in the Times newspaper that the move would be a “counterproductive choice – morally, economically and politically”, while Ms Greening told the BBC:

"I think it would be a mistake [to cut aid] because levelling up isn't just something we should be doing at home, it's also something we should be doing abroad, and that's what the development and aid budget has always been about.

"It's been the right thing to do for the UK to play a leading role globally but it's also been the smart thing to do - working upstream, stopping countries from falling into costly wars, and stopping migration crises before they happen makes sense."

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi meanwhile said the rumoured reduction would be "immoral and dangerous".

"This year the world has faced a common enemy like never before, yet the response so far has been to look after the richest and leave the poorest to fend for themselves," he told the PA news agency.

"History will judge this harshly and it will be unforgivable if leaders now cut one of the few sources of support for the most marginalised."

Christian Aid’s UK head of policy Jennifer Larbie said the cuts would have "consequences for the world's poorest".

"It will result in people not accessing vital health care during a global pandemic.  People going hungry. In fewer children being educated and their already limited choices being further diminished," she said.

"These are the tangible effects. The intangible, but no less damaging, ones are to the UK’s global standing. By not keeping our foreign aid promises we further undermine our position as host of the G7 next year. We give the impression; do as we say not as we do/"

Preet Kaur Gill, Labour’s shadow international development secretary, said her party would restore the target.

“During this pandemic the government have handed over millions of pounds of UK tax payers money to its friends yet are now turning their backs on the world’s poorest," she said.

“This move will damage the UK's reputation around the World and will only show our allies and detractors that Britain under Boris Johnson is no longer interested in fulfilling our responsibilities or leading on the global stage.

“Labour are committed to spending 0.7% of GNI on aid to tackle global poverty and injustice and will oppose any attempt from this government to damage this country's reputation by breaking that commitment.”

Mr Sunak is under pressure from some of his Conservative colleagues to reduce expenditure, which has grown sharply to support the economy and public health during the coronavirs pandemic.

The chancellor is also expected to freeze public sector pay, despite warnings it could take demand out of the economy and prolong the recession.