Cabinet ministers including Ed Miliband have raised concerns over Keir Starmer’s decision to slash overseas aid to pay for increased defence spending, as dozens of Labour MPs from all wings of the party expressed alarm at the plan.
After aid agencies warned that the decision to cut the UK’s aid commitment from 0.5% of GDP annually to 0.3% would have a devastating impact in many areas, several MPs condemned the idea as shortsighted and unjustified.
While there is no suggestion of a revolt against Starmer’s plan, the Guardian understands that Miliband, the energy secretary, was among the ministers who expressed worry at the impact of the aid cut during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The prime minister discussed the move before he made the surprise announcement to the Commons. Speaking to broadcasters on Wednesday, Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, said that while it was “devastating” to cut aid, the cabinet was “united that the number one responsibility of any government is to keep its citizens safe”.
Starmer’s proposal to raise defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027, three years earlier than planned, with the ambition to reach 3%, comes in the context of a continued threat from Russia and the decision by Donald Trump’s government to edge back from the US’s decades-long pledges to protect European Nato members.
In this context, it has been difficult for ministers or even Labour MPs to express their views publicly. However, MPs from several wings of the party told the Guardian they were deeply worried at the plans.
“It’s incredibly disappointing,” one said. “Reducing our foreign aid budget reduces our soft power and support for developing countries, which will impact us; it will make migration more likely.”
Another said: “The increase in defence spending is absolutely right but they could have done it another way. The aid programme, if directed, can play a crucial role in future conflict prevention and is also crucial for climate migration in some of the world’s most climate-stressed places which, if not supported, will mean millions will have to leave their homes as they are uninhabitable.”
The link between aid and migration is even more pertinent given that nearly a third of the existing aid budget is already used in supporting refugees who have come to the UK and are claiming asylum. While ministers hope to cut these costs by processing more cases, it is unclear what overseas projects will remain once the overall budget is cut further.
This month, David Lammy warned that aid cuts could allow China to step in and further its global influence. Speaking to ITV’s Peston show on Wednesday, the foreign secretary said the aid cut was regrettable but also one of “the hard-headed decisions you make when you are in government”.
Lammy said: “I’m saddened that we have had to reduce our development budget. But let’s be clear, this was not an ideological decision in terms of development.” It was, he argued, the sort of decision on defence and security you would expect a nation like the UK “to deploy at this most difficult of times”.
Asked if there had been an impact assessment of the cuts, Starmer’s official spokesperson pointed to a review of ODA [overseas development assistance] spend, “which will ensure that every pound of development assistance is spent in the most impactful way”. He said aid would still reach conflict-hit areas including Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, but gave no further examples.
Starmer faced some internal scrutiny of the decision at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday when the Labour veteran Diane Abbott said moving money from aid to defence “makes people less safe, not more safe because the desperation and the poverty that so often leads to warfare is what aid and development money is supposed to counter”.
Starmer stressed that it was not a decision he took lightly or wanted to take. “I want to be clear: we do of course want to go back and increase that funding as soon as we are able to do so,” he responded.
Later in the day, Starmer said: “That is not a decision I wanted to take. That’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly. It does not mean we’re pulling out of the global stage, far from it.
“And China actually hasn’t been giving that much in aid in any event.
“But we’re not pulling away. I’ve been really clear about Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, because obviously they are conflict zones at the moment.
“We’re not pulling out. Obviously we want to restore and increase overseas aid as soon as the economic circumstances allow us to do so.”
Some Labour MPs, speaking privately, said they were concerned that the plan to increase defence spending had been made before the completion of the strategic defence review, which is examining what needs to be spent and where. One MP said it was “putting the cart before the horse”.
