UK economy 'too turbulent' for 0.7% aid commitment, says Lammy

The United Kingdom’s economy is “too turbulent” for the Labour Party to recommit to spending 0.7% of gross national income on the international development budget, said David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary. He said: “We are determined to win power in 2024, in a cost of living crisis where people are struggling to put food on the table, inflation is rising, costs are soaring, it’s irresponsible for us to set out spending at this stage. It’s just too turbulent.” Labour had a “commitment to development spending, and our record,” added Lammy, in a speech outlining his foreign policy vision at the Chatham House think tank on Tuesday. While the Conservatives closed the Department for International Development in 2020 and cut the aid budget to 0.5% in 2021, it was under their party’s government that international development reached 0.7% in 2013. Lammy criticized the Home Office’s domestic aid spending on refugees, which has triggered further aid cuts, saying, “we should not be in the situation.” Lammy failed to mention Preet Gill, shadow international development secretary, despite paying tribute to other Labour Party colleagues. Gill officially leads Labour’s aid brief and traveled with Lammy to Afghanistan, a trip he discussed in the speech to highlight the importance of development, which he said was “vital in the modern world.” Gill previously told Devex that Labour had a plan for returning to 0.7%, and would launch a review of aid spending on “day one” of being elected into government. Lammy’s mixed support for international development has worried some in the U.K.’s aid sector. A party conference dispute over restoring DFID — with Lammy in opposition “in very strong terms” — overshadowed a major aid policy announcement on climate last September. Lammy said Labour was “committed to a new model” for international development on Tuesday but that it would ultimately be a decision for Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. The U.K. government’s development structures were in a “state of flux,” said Lammy, who added that it was unclear where any changes introduced by current International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell were “going to end up.”