International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds has resigned over the prime minister’s cuts to the aid budget.
In a letter to the prime minister, Dodds said the cuts to international aid, announced earlier this week to fund an increase in defence spending, would “remove food and healthcare from desperate people – deeply harming the UK’s reputation”.
She told Sir Keir Starmer she had delayed her resignation until after his meeting with President Trump, saying it was “imperative that you had a united cabinet behind you as you set off for Washington”.
The MP said it was with “sadness” that she was resigning, adding she knew Sir Keir was not “ideologically opposed” to international development.
Ahead of his trip to meet Trump, Sir Keir announced aid funding would be reduced from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027 in order to fund an increase in defence spending.
Defending the move, the prime minister said it was “not a decision I wanted to make” but added there was “no driver of migration and poverty like conflict”.
In her resignation letter, Dodds warned that the cut would “also likely lead to a UK pull-out from numerous African, Caribbean and Western Balkan nations – at a time when Russia has been aggressively increasing its global presence”.
“It will likely lead to withdrawal from regional banks and a reduced commitment to the World Bank; the UK being shut out of numerous multilateral bodies; and a reduced voice for the UK in the G7, G20 and in climate negotiations.”
Dodds said the post-war global order had “come crashing down” and that she welcomed an increase in defence spending.
“I stood ready to work with you to deliver that increased spending, knowing some might well have had to come from ODA [overseas development assistance].
“I also expected we would collectively discuss our fiscal rules and approach to taxation, as other nations are doing.”
However, Dodds said that instead of taking this approach the prime minister had decided to allow the ODA to “absorb the entire burden”.
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