After U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s shock February announcement of a new cut to U.K. aid from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3%, many development professionals have been asking for clarity on a host of questions.
Some of the answers are yet to be determined, but Devex is addressing some of the top concerns of those involved in foreign aid provision. We identified the biggest gaps in information at a Devex Pro briefing event on March 11 and have since endeavored to tackle them one by one. Here is what we learned.
On March 26, U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the Spring Statement that she would provide an additional £2.2 billion ($2.9 billion) in spending for the Ministry of Defence in the next financial year — and that to fund this, aid cuts would start immediately. There will be a cut (compared to the original budget of 0.5% of GNI) of £500 million in 2025/26, followed by cuts of £4.8 billion in 2026-27 and £6.5 billion in 2027-28, when U.K. official development assistance, or ODA, will reach 0.3% of GNI. Bond, the U.K. network for organizations working in international development, described the “sudden and damaging reductions” as a “reckless and cruel decision” and urged the government to maintain U.K. aid at 0.5% of GNI over the next two years.