The United Kingdom will continue raiding its aid budget to pay the huge costs of hosting refugees until its chaotic asylum system is working effectively, its development minister has told Devex.
Labour’s Anneliese Dodds declined to set a deadline for ending the controversial practice, despite her party criticizing it in the past — and despite it being blamed for an imminent fall in aid spending on international programs to a 17-year low.
Instead, Dodds suggested the diversion of aid — amounting to £4.3 billion ($5.8 billion), or 27.9% of Official Development Assistance in 2023 — would have to continue indefinitely without Labour’s plan to strengthen border controls and cut the number of arrivals.