UK Labour leader Starmer backs off pledge to restore aid department

Labour leader Keir Starmer is backing away from his pledge to restore a separate U.K. international development department, despite huge criticism of aid delivery since the former Department for International Development, or DFID, merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office three years ago. His officials are exploring whether a development “agency” within FCDO — with operational independence — could repair the U.K.’s tarnished reputation without the “disruption and cost” of another big institutional shake-up. Another factor is a fear that a separate department would fail to “fit in” as effectively with other foreign policy “priorities,” a senior Labour source has told Devex — the reason given by the Conservatives for the controversial merger that created the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in 2020. The setup would be “similar” to aid delivery before Labour created DFID in 1997, the source said, when an Overseas Development Administration existed within the Foreign Office. In April 2023, current international development minister Andrew Mitchell announced rebranding the government’s aid work as UK International Development, which he said will attempt to “make the structure inside the Foreign Office work for both development and foreign affairs.” No final decision on Labour’s way forward is expected before the end of 2023, a timetable that still leaves “plenty of time,” according to the source, to develop a full plan before the next general election — currently not expected until late 2024, Labour believes. A decision not to restore a separate department is likely to trigger accusations of a U-turn, after Starmer cheered aid groups with a commitment to reverse the merger, in July last year. Asked if he would bring back DFID, the Labour leader replied: “We are, for so many reasons,” describing a distinct aid department as “a massive asset” and the merger as “totally misguided.” But two months later, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy lifted the lid on top-level disagreement, arguing it would be a mistake to simply “reinvent what was there before” in a situation “hugely different to the world in 1997.” “It is not a commitment to bring back DFID. Very sadly, the Tories ruined it. It is a commitment for a new model,” Lammy told a meeting at Labour’s conference last September, adding: “We should be more ambitious than recreating 1997.” Lammy also raised eyebrows in a November speech by attacking some forms of aid as “patronizing or paternalistic,” promising to “build new relations of equals, based on respect and mutual trust.” An aid “agency” — if Labour opts for that model — would be given its own budget and staff, ensuring independence from the department’s main focus on foreign affairs, the party says. Officials are examining how other major donor nations deliver aid programs, insisting the goal of restoring lost “development influence and expertise across the world” would remain the same. The years following the merger of DfID with FCO saw an exodus of development expertise from the department. Sir Mark Lowcock, senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development think tank, said Labour appeared to be replicating its pre-1997 process of “taking time to consider the options and looking at what other countries do.” “Then, the result was the creation of DFID, which is widely recognized as having made a substantial contribution to global development as well as enhancing the U.K.’s international reputation” he pointed out. Paul Abernethy, co-head of policy at Bond, the U.K. network for organizations working in international development, urged Labour to be “ambitious”, saying: “We need a fully independent, adequately funded, international development department, regardless of what it is called. “This should be led by a cabinet minister making decisions based on what people facing poverty, injustice, conflict, or climate change actually need, and not domestic political priorities, which have driven UK aid’s focus for far too long.” Labour is on track to form the next government next year, with a 15-point poll lead, although it may be forced to cooperate with minor parties if it falls short of winning a Commons majority. Another difficult decision will be when to restore aid spending to 0.7% of the gross national income, after the Conservatives broke a manifesto commitment by cutting it to 0.5%, in 2020. Labour has matched its opponents by saying it will only act when “the fiscal situation allows”, but is likely to take office with the U.K. economy barely growing and debt sky-high. The Treasury watchdog has advised that economic tests set by the Conservatives for returning to spending 0.7% will not be met before 2028 at the earliest — a timetable unlikely to be acceptable to Labour supporters. A party spokesperson said: “Restoring the U.K.’s leadership in international development is a key part of Labour’s plan to reconnect Britain with the rest of the world, to help deliver security abroad and prosperity at home. “That’s why we have committed to putting in place a new independent model for international development that can meet the challenges of the 21st century.”