Dismantling DFID and cutting aid: What will the Conservatives do next on development policy?

 Top Lines

This briefing paper addresses two questions: What are the consequences of the merger between DFID and the FCO? And having cut the aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI, what will the Conservatives do next on development policy? 

Similar mergers in other countries have led to a decline in both the quality and quantity of aid. Australia and Canada also saw a decline in their global transparency rankings. 

Labour should frame the Government’s decision to cut the UK’s aid target as an act of self-sabotage, further depleting the UK’s standing in the world following its departure from the European Union, and while at least four other G7 countries are increasing their aid spend next year. 

Claims that ODA cuts are the result of “difficult choices” necessitated by economic circumstances should be seen in the context of billions of taxpayers’ money that this Government has spent handing contracts to Conservative Party donors and at least £2 billion that has been lost to fraud and waste as part of the furlough scheme. The world’s poorest will pay the highest price for government corruption and waste.

£3bn has already been slashed from the aid budget. The further £4bn cut marks a double blow for the world’s poorest, and sends a damaging signal globally that international development is not high on this Government’s agenda. 

On day one of a Labour Government, the Labour Party should commit to enshrine the proper funding of Britain’s diplomatic services, armed forces, and development aid policy, through a new Britain Abroad Act, which would include provisions to strengthen the International Development Act (2002) and ensure aid spending is targeted on alleviating global poverty.

Previous conservative governments in Canada and Australia serve as cautionary tales for the UK. It’s clear that if left unopposed, the UK will face a similar fate under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. 

Image credit: An RAF C-17 aircraft carrying vital UK aid lands in Kathmundu, Nepal, April 2015. Sgt Neil Bryden/RAF via Flickr.