UK's 'devastating' overseas aid cuts 'could weaken national security'

MPs' report warns decrease in funding will lead to crises and reduce Britain's soft power

Keir Starmer during a visit to BAE Systems in Warton on Tuesday. Reduced UK overseas aid to help boost defence spending could ultimately undermine Britain's defence sector, MPs have said. AFP

Cuts to Britain's overseas aid budget, carried out to boost spending on defence, will have “devastating consequences” without even improving national security, a parliamentary report has stated.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement in February of heavy reductions to pay for an increased defence budget in light of the growing Russian threat could actually make the UK’s defences weaker, the international development committee said.

Slashing the development budget will “continue to lead to unrest and further crises in the future” as well as jeopardising the UK’s ability to wield soft power, said the committee of MPs.

Following cuts under former prime minister Boris Johnson in 2021, Britain’s annual aid budget shrunk from £20 billion ($26.3 billion) to £15 billion. Now overseas aid will reduce further to £10.7 billion.

Previously seen as an overseas aid “superpower”, Britain’s cuts have been reflected elsewhere in Europe, with France reducing its budget by 40 per cent, on top of Donald Trump's administration in Washington axing $43 billion from the US Agency from International Development (USAID) budget.

This “seismic shift” in western funding includes development money being withdrawn from vital support programmes across the Middle East and North Africa, The National has previously reported.

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson started the cuts to the overseas aid budget. AP

The reason for the most recent cuts – Mr Johnson blamed the pandemic for his – is to raise national security spending to 5 per cent of GDP, the biggest rise in defence spending since the Cold War.

But the cuts supposed to boost Britain’s defences could be having the opposite effect, said Sarah Champion, chairwoman of the international development committee.

“The savage aid cuts announced this year are already proving to be a tragic error that will cost lives and livelihoods, undermine our international standing and ultimately threaten our national security,” she said. “They must be reversed.”

Sarah Champion, chairwoman of the international development committee, says the government's decision 'must be reversed'. Photo: House of Commons Committee Office

The MPs’ report published on Wednesday warned that repeated reductions of aid over recent years had not only disrupted the long-term value for money but damaged Britain’s global reputation.

“The UK’s planned reduction of [official development assistance] from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of gross national income will have devastating consequences across the world,” the report said.

“The committee recognises that increased defence spending is needed and is to be welcomed. However, to do this at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable undermines not only the UK’s soft power but also its national security.”

Mr Starmer has defended the cuts as “necessary for the protection of our country” but aid organisations have described the decision as short-sighted.

“Aid when delivered is an investment in a safer and more prosperous world,” said Timothy Ingram, of WaterAid. “The UK government’s decision to cut the aid budget was one that defied both logic and humanity.” He added that the move would have “long-term consequences for the UK’s stability, economy and global standing”.

UK Development Minister Baroness Chapman stressed to the committee that Britain “will remain a leading actor” for humanitarian assistance, with Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine facing no reduction in their funding.