The war in Ukraine will result in “fierce and draconian” cuts of about 30% to UK overseas aid spending, Development Minister Andrew Mitchell told lawmakers on Tuesday, conceding that the UK has lost its position as a world leader in development policy.
The costs of housing Ukrainian refugees are forecast to be around £3 billion, the government says, and this money has been taken from the aid budget which has already been significantly depleted by around £4 billion per year.
The Home Office also expects the refugee costs to remain high next year.
The UK abandoned its commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid as the Conservative government sought to find budget cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a campaign led by Mitchell, then a backbench MP.
Mitchell was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in October to take a job that he had previously held in David Cameron’s government. The 0.7% spending has been cut to 0.5%
“We are no longer a development superpower,” Mitchell told MPs, pointing to the International Development department, initially established by Tony Blair’s government in 1997, which has been subsumed into the Foreign Office.
(Benjamin Fox | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
