Janice R. Andrews
A shocking new study by Survation for the Daily Mail shows that people would rather see less money spent on defence than on foreign aid in the next budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has to find £15 billion in savings. As she looks at all departments, the Ministry of Defence has been warned that it might have to make changes, even though there are still threats to world security.
55% of those who answered the poll want to cut the UK’s annual £15.4 billion foreign aid budget, but only 27% want to cut military spending. The aid budget was cut from 0.7% of GDP to 0.5% to cover costs linked to the pandemic, which led to this change in public opinion. Giving money to help pay for asylum seekers’ housing in the UK, which cost £4.3 billion last year alone, has put even more pressure on the aid budget.
David Lammy, who is Foreign Secretary, is currently leading the government’s attempts to protect the aid fund. He has said that more budget cuts could make the UK less influential in the world, and he has asked Chancellor Reeves to accept more money to keep important aid programs going. This comes right after Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak agreed to give the aid fund an extra £2.5 billion over two years. But this money will run out at the end of the year, so Lammy may have to cut back on important aid projects unless more money is given.
In a recent speech, Lammy restated Labour’s goal of bringing aid spending back to 0.7% of GDP. This would take an extra £6 billion each year. Even though he talked about how important it is to plan for this project over the long run, the immediate problem is still finding a balance between what voters want and the need for foreign help.
