UK will slash billions in aid spending to fund larger military

The United Kingdom plans to slash aid spending to just 0.3% of national income, claiming the dramatic step is the only way to boost the country’s defense budget to meet the “generational challenge” of Russia’s threat. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stunned members of Parliament, or MPs, of his own Labour Party with the announcement that he will shift billions of pounds from development to support a bigger military — despite a manifesto promise to increase aid spending from 0.5% back to 0.7% of gross national income. Instead, the cut to 0.3% will be made in 2027, when defense spending will rise to 2.5% ahead of a long-term plan to hike the defense budget to 3% — implying the aid budget reduction will last into the next decade. Making a statement in the U.K. Parliament, Starmer, who must show U.S. President Donald Trump the U.K. is serious about taking on the burden of defending Europe at a crucial Washington meeting on Thursday, told MPs a higher defense budget “can only be funded through hard choices.” “In this case, that means we will cut our spending on development assistance, moving from 0.5% of GNI [gross national income] today, to 0.3% in 2027, fully funding our increased investment in defence,” the prime minister said. Starmer said it was “a very difficult decision, and not a decision that I wanted to take or that I’m happy to take” ​​— later telling MPs it was “a grown-up decision.” The move — branded “a day of shame for Britain” by one NGO, Global Justice Now — comes just weeks after the U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy called cuts to aid spending “a big strategic mistake.” Asked about the dismantling of USAID, Lammy said: “What I can say to American friends is it’s widely accepted that the decision by the UK with very little preparation to close down DFID, to suspend funding in the short term or give many global partners little heads up, was a big strategic mistake. “We have spent years unravelling that strategic mistake. Development remains a very important soft power tool. And in the absence of development … I would be very worried that China and others step into that gap.” Now the U.K. is following Washington’s lead, drawing condemnation from the country’s aid organizations, who warned it would undermine the U.K.’s. global commitments and credibility, and weaken its own national security. Romilly Greenhill, CEO of the Bond network for development groups, called it “short-sighted and appalling,” saying: “Slashing the already diminished UK aid budget to fund an uplift in defence is a reckless decision that will have devastating consequences for millions of marginalised people worldwide.” “Tragically, this cut is even deeper than the last Conservative government’s and will destroy this Labour government’s reputation, tearing to shreds their previous manifesto commitments to rebuild the UK’s international reputation as a reliable global partner.” Moazzam Malik, CEO of Save the Children UK, said: “We are stunned by this decision to cut the aid budget in order to increase military spending. It is a betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable children and the UK’s national interest.” And Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, said: “Starmer’s announcement today is politics at its most base. To appease Trump, he will cut aid to its lowest level in a generation, forcing the poorest to pay so he can push taxpayer money into the coffers of arms corporations. It is a day of shame for Britain.” Sarah Champion, chair of Parliament’s International Development Committee, called the move “a false economy that will only make the world less safe.” “The Prime Minister said today that he was ‘proud’ of the UK’s pioneering work on overseas development. I am bitterly disappointed to see the Government abandon this agenda, not only pulling the rug from under some of the world’s most vulnerable people but endangering our long-term security,” Champion said. The announcement sets up a rerun of the savage aid cuts the U.K. made in the years after 2020, when spending was lowered from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI — cuts the then-Conservative government admitted would lead to many deaths. Starmer said he would not repeal a 2015 legislation requiring 0.7% of GNI to be spent on development, but it is likely he will need to secure Parliament’s permission for the law to be set aside, as happened when the cut to 0.5% was made — in what promises to be another flash-point vote.