Over 200 charities have signed a joint statement to condemn the cuts to the UK aid budget, saying that more than £500million is to be lost from humanitarian aid. The government announced it was cutting the aid budget last November, a direct contradiction to the manifesto promises, but charities have been waiting to see which areas of the budget are to be cut.
The government have so far not announced precisely where the cuts are to be made, citing a challenging economic climate as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has set out the rough parameters of how the £8.11 billion of the aid budget is going to be spent in a written statement, for which he has been criticised by not presenting the data formally to the House of Commons.
In response Dominic Raab said ‘First of all, we wouldn’t normally set out the thematic allocations, the spending, at this early stage in the financial year.
“In fact, I think it’s almost unprecedented. So, what I have tried to do is set out the raw data, broken down by allocation.
“We haven’t done this in anything other than a fully transparent way, given it to the committee, and indeed members of the House, the day before, precisely so that you can grill me for the two hours you have got me here today.’’
Save The Children and Oxfam, two of the major
signatories of the letter, said ‘’Today’s announcement is a tragic blow for many of the world’s most marginalised people the UK once supported, and for the UK’s reputation as a trusted development partner,” the charity leaders said.
“The Government has not even spared countries ravaged by humanitarian crisis, disease, war and poverty. When other nations are stepping forward and bolstering their aid budgets, the UK has instead chosen to step back.”
