The United Kingdom will not return to spending 0.7% of gross national income on international aid until at least 2030, following the Labour Party’s first budget back in power — and immediate spending cuts look inevitable.
As expected, the government rejected pleas to top-up the development budget to offset the billions diverted to pay for hosting asylum-seekers, prompting a fresh warning that overseas program spending will “plummet” this year.
More significantly in the long-term, the budget book revealed Labour has abandoned the idea of setting its own economic tests for reversing the 2020 decision to slash aid spending from 0.7% to 0.5% — and will stick to the rules set by the previous Conservative Party government.
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About the author
Rob Merrick
Rob Merrick is the U.K. Correspondent for Devex, covering FCDO and British aid. He reported on all the key events in British politics of the past 25 years from Westminster, including the financial crash, the Brexit fallout, the "Partygate" scandal, and the departures of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Rob has worked for The Independent and the Press Association and is a regular commentator on TV and radio. He can be reached at rob.merrick@devex.com.
