A Bangladesh ‘shrimp health’ study, a Porsche deal for Albanian prisons and ‘inclusion’ in the DRC: How foreign aid is spent amid Labour row over using cash for defence instead_Nhy
Sir Keir Starmer is facing simmering anger from Labour ministers and backbenchers today after he used the UK’s foreign aid budget to fund an increase in defence spending.
Sir Keir announced that defence spending would rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP from 2.3 per cent by 2027 in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to leave Europe to fend for itself and move closer to Russia.
But while Labour MPs and others voiced their anger, the move is likely to be popular with voters, especially those who may be considering voting for Reform.
Two thirds of adults believe aid spending is too high, compared to just 14 per cent who think the same about defence, according to YouGov.
It comes after it was revealed UK taxpayers’ money has been frittered away on questionable projects.
A study of the health of prawns in Bangladesh, a deal to fund prison transport in Albania using a Porsche dealer and millions to support ‘accountability and inclusion’ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have all received money from Britain.
Labour and Lib Dem MPs joined aid agencies in criticising the cuts, but opinion polls show that a majority of the public believe foreign aid is too generous.
Former Labour shadow minister Richard Burgon pointedly shared a quote from the late leftwing MP Tony Benn saying that ‘if we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people’.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, is said to have been ‘bounced’ into supporting a move to cut official development assistance (ODA) to from 0.5 per cent of GDP to 0.3 per cent in 2027, in order to pour cash into rearming.
Only last month he critiscised Donald Trump‘s decision to decimate US aid spending. But in a Guardian article today he said a ‘hard choice’ had been taken by a ‘government of pragmatists not ideologues’.
Sir Keir announced that defence spending would rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP from 2.3 per cent by 2027 in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to leave Europe to fend for itself and move closer to Russia .
David Lammy , the Foreign Secretary , is said to have been ‘bounced’ into supporting a move to cut overseas development aid (ODA) to from 0.5 per cent of GDP to 0.3 per cent in 2027, in order to pour cash into rearming.
Tory shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said foreign aid was ‘not going to make any difference’ in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Asked on Times Radio if foreign aid was the right place to make cuts in order to fund the rise in defence spending, the shadow defence secretary said aid played a different role when counter-terrorism was the ‘main job’ on the armed forces, because it was ‘not nation-on-nation, peer-to-peer military’.
He said: ‘In that circumstance you can argue that aid is almost part of your defence because obviously if a country is unstable, it’s more likely to ferment the conditions where terrorism or those sort of disruptive organisations succeed. So aid is really important.
‘However, when you’re faced with a peer military threat like Russia, a country where aid is not going to make any difference, then you have to be focused on the reality of the situation.’
Among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) only the US, Japan and Germany spend more on foreign aid.
The Trump administration has presented a plan to dramatically cut staffing worldwide for US aid projects as part of its dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The plan would see thousands of workers lose their jobs, with fewer than 300 positions left in USAID to administer humanitarian aid programmes around the world.
At the same time the UK has actually increased its overseas spending. Last week Development Minister Annelise Dodds said the UK’s commitment to international aid ‘remains steadfast’ despite the Trump decision .
Ms Dodds’ comments followed the publication of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) aid allocations for 2024/25, which saw total spending on official development assistance (ODA) rise to £9.3 billion from £8.1 billion in the previous year.
Under plans set out in 2023, the previous government had expected the FCDO to spend £8.3 billion on ODA in 2024/25.
The biggest single national recipient of aid is Ukraine, which is fighting off a brutal invasion by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. This is on top of the billions of pounds’ worth of military aide we have given to Kyiv.
Eight of the top 10 national recipients are in Africa, led by Ethiopia, which has been mired in a civil war since 2018.
There were some increases in funding, such as an extra £113 million in humanitarian support for Sudan and those who had fled to neighbouring countries, an extra £15 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories – after the brutal war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza – and £50 million for Syria, where the Assad regime collapsed at the end of last year.
Allocations for Europe and the Indo-Pacific region, particularly India, were lower than plans set out in 2023, the last time the FCDO published its plans for 2024/25.
As well as money set aside by country and region, the largest singe pot of cash is reserved for British Investment Partnerships (BIP)s. These are programmes which bring together governments and private firms in the developing world to allow them to access finance that might otherwise be out of reach.
There is also a focus on health and education programmes.
But questions have been raised over whether the cash is being spent wisely.
Other spending escapades included up to £500,000 of taxpayer money going towards 15 electric VW vans for Albanian prisons, secured through a local Porsche dealer, and the same amount to support the ‘gender mainstreaming strategy’ in the Jordanian army.
Official figures show the past three years have seen the UK hand more than £133,000 to Bangladesh Agricultural University to study shrimp health, with the most recent payment made in September.
And last December the Foreign Office paid a contractor £9.5million to support ‘accountability and inclusion’ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Other spending escapades included up to £500,000 of taxpayer money going towards 15 electric VW vans for Albanian prisons, secured through a local Porsche dealer, and the same amount to support the ‘gender mainstreaming strategy’ in the Jordanian army.
The FCO website said that the Albanian vans, part of a deal which sees the country take back nationals from UK prisons, were part of ‘the drive (sic) towards net zero and is part of a wider greening initiative’.
Further initiatives have been promoted in India, with £114million set aside for ‘inclusive green enterprises’ despite the country having a larger economy than the UK.
Some £5million has gone to ‘transforming feminist funding in Iraq’ while £264,000 went to ‘better understand disinformation in Ethiopia’ and £44,000 to studying Thailand’s alcohol policy.
The commitment to increase defence spending comes ahead of the Prime Minister flying to Washington to meet President Donald Trump. Mr Trump has repeatedly called for European nations to increase the amount they are putting into defence budgets.
Sir Keir will follow French President Emmanuel Macron in visiting Mr Trump in Washington DC, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit on Friday.
But his move to speed up a decision on defence spending faced kickback in the Common.
Monica Harding, the Lib Dem spokeswoman for international development, said: ‘Can the Prime Minister not see that funding this uplift through ODA (official development assistance) is short-sighted and a strategic and moral mistake because prevention is cheaper than wars, because it gives more leverage for Russia and China and because we do it on the back of the world’s poorest.’
