Humanitarian groups have criticized the UK government’s approach of using international aid to offset defense spending, arguing that it will reduce Britain’s international standing and cause significant suffering to those who depend on aid.
As Prime Minister Heir Starmer stated in his Tuesday address, “Britain is going to raise our defense spending from 2% to 2.5% by the year 2025, and eventually to 3%”. This, together with having Britain fully support Ukraine, seems to be the central focus under the policy. Part of the support will come from a reduction in the aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of the GNI.
Criticism from humanitarian and lobby groups
The decision has been heavily opposed by different charity and advocacy organizations in Britain. David Miliband, the International Rescue Committee’s president and former Foreign Secretary, heavily criticized the cut by saying that this was a major blow, not just monetarily but also to the pride of Britain’s humanitarian legacy.
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Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, went further and branded it “a day of shame for Britain”, alleging that it was done to curry favor with US President Donald Trump, whom Starmer is supposed to meet this week. As if this were not bad enough, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has on record stated that reducing aid “will undoubtedly risk lives,” while Oxfam accused the government of populist capitulation.
The decision has also been condemned by ActionAid, which claimed that misguided aid policies could have catastrophic repercussions for the affected countries, which include Gaza, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine.
A reversal of pledges
The United Kingdom used to pledge 0.7% of GNI as aid which was restored to 0.5% in 2020 by a Conservative government because of economic problems stemming from the pandemic. The Starmer administration had committed to an increase but has now made a U turn.
In the words of Romilly Greenhill, CEO of humanitarian network Bond, the move is “short-sighted and reckless.” She argues that aid resources have to come from somewhere and diverging them into military budgets does not help solve global insecurity.
As explained on ‘The Guardian’, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, highlighted that support on funding will be provided on various program in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan but some projects are bound to be canceled.
“Difficult decisions will have to be taken in the next few weeks,” he stated.
Labor MP Sarah Champion was one of the few voices in Parliament to oppose the move, stating that reducing aid could, in fact, increase global instability.
“Framing this as aid versus defence is misleading. Aid spending can help prevent conflicts,” she argued.
Despite the backlash, Starmer defended the decision, stating that security must come first in a “dangerous new era.”