International Aid

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about international aid.

On Tuesday (8 June 2021), the House of Commons held an emergency debate on reductions in the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget.

Under the International Development Act 2015, the UK is legally committed to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on development assistance abroad. However, despite this, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury confirmed the Government had taken a “temporary decision” at the end of last year to reduce the target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%.

Although he described the decision as temporary, the Chief Secretary did not give the House of Commons a specific date by which the Government would restore the development budget to the 0.7% target set out in law saying only that it would “keep the matter under careful and regular review”.

The UK is the only G7 nation to cut aid this year. As the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development pointed out, this is a retreat from our moral duty and will weaken our position on the world stage, at a time when the United Kingdom is preparing to host the G7 later this week and the COP26 conference on combating climate change later this year.

In my view, slashing humanitarian support in the middle of a global pandemic is not only callous but short-sighted too. People will lose their lives as a result of the cuts, and we will all be less safe. The 0.7% is not just a commitment to the world’s poorest enshrined in law by Parliament; it is also a reflection of the kind of country we aspire to be and the values that we uphold.

Yours Sincerely

Peter Dowd