A Reform UK MP has criticised foreign aid spending after new figures showed the UK handed out £15.3billion last year.
The total is an increase of £2.5billion from the year before, according to the figures from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
It means Britain spent 0.58% of gross national income (GNI) on overseas aid in 2023.
Rupert Lowe, who represents Great Yarmouth, said: “These figures today once again show how badly the Tories governed in office. They prioritised money for foreign aid over British people.
“It’s blindingly obvious that Labour won’t put an end to this scandal too, indeed it looks like it will only get worse.
“Only Reform UK are serious about cutting foreign aid and prioritising that money towards hard-working British taxpayers and our pensioners.”
Nigel Farage’s party pledged to slash overseas aid by 50% and carry out a review into its effectiveness in its election manifesto.
The figures show the top three recipients of foreign aid were Ukraine, which got £250m; Ethiopia, which received £164million; and Afghanistan with £115million.
Some £4.2billion – almost a third of the total – was spent on was spent on support to refugees or asylum seekers in the UK or other countries.
Rupert Lowe said Reform was committed to cutting foreign aid (Image: Getty)
It comes as Labour has pledged to restore foreign aid spending to 0.7% of GNI when fiscal circumstances allow.
The target, set by the United Nations, was reduced by the previous Tory government to 0.5% in 2021 due to the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.
A FCDO spokesperson said: “Our development aid work contributes to a safer, more prosperous UK. Global challenges like conflict, the climate crisis and poverty directly affect British lives, including through irregular migration, pandemics and price increases.
“Our development aid commitments are helping to tackle these challenges and are key to our efforts to help create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.”
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Tories accused of ‘Brexit betrayal’ as UK spending on asylum seekers soars by £500m
Migrants crossing the English Channel to Dover (Image: Getty)
The UK increased its spending by £500m to “support” refugees and asylum seekers from 2022 to 2023, according to new Foreign Office figures.
That means in total, the Foreign Office (FCDO) spent more than £4billion on refugees and asylum seekers “in the UK or other donor countries” last year.
Despite vowing to “stop the boats” and reduce Britain’s spending on the asylum crisis, the new report reveals that under Rishi Sunak the taxpayer was forking out even more to support migrants in the UK and abroad.
Noel Willcox, a Reform UK candidate at the recent General Election, lashed out at the increased outlay, arguing it was evidence of “Brexit betrayal”.
He told Express.co.uk: “Why is it that we’re looking after foreign refugees and we’re allocating budgets of substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money [to do so]?
Rishi Sunak vowed to ‘stop the boats’, but spending supporting asylum seekers went up £500m in 2023 (Image: Getty)
“There’s no mandate to do it. The British people have not voted for this.
“Why are we not allocating these sorts of budgets to helping veterans? It is just another Brexit betrayal and as far as I’m concerned, we just haven’t had Brexit – Brexit has just not been delivered.”
Although the increase in asylum seeker spending went up under the previous Tory administration, Mr Willcox took aim at the current Labour administration too: “And the Labour government is certainly not going to deliver on a mandate of Brexit.
“I think that they’re going to try and take us in through the back door.”
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken of his desire to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the European Union but has stated that does not mean going back into the political union.
Keir Starmer has vowed to ‘smash the gangs’ trafficking people to Britain (Image: Getty)
The UK’s increased outlay may raise eyebrows, but in comparison to what some European partners have spent on handling the migration crisis, Britain’s spend is relatively paltry.
For example, in 2023, Germany spent nearly £25billion on supporting asylum seekers, according to Statista.
According to official federal figures, the German government expects to spend just shy of £20bn a year on asylum seekers until 2027. However, it expects the outlay to clear £20bn again by 2028.
Express.co.uk has approached the Conservative Party for comment.
