Anneliese Dodds walked out as international development minister following the decision to slash the aid budget in order to fund an increase in defence spending
Keir Starmer has been rocked after a Labour minister quit in protest over his heavily-criticised cut to international aid.
Anneliese Dodds walked out as international development minister following the decision to slash the aid budget to fund an increase in defence spending. The Prime Minister has faced a backlash over the move, which critics warn will have a devastating impact on the world’s poorest people.
In a letter to the PM, Ms Dodds wrote: “Ulitmately, these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people – deeply harming the UK’s reputation.” She warned it would be “impossible” to continue providing humanitarian support for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
Ms Dodds, who attended cabinet in her ministerial role, also told Mr Starmer that the move could empower tyrant Vladimir Putin further. She wrote: “The cut will also likely lead to a UK pull-out from numerous African, Caribbean and Western Balkan nations – at a time when Russia has been aggressively increasing its global presence.”
Ms Dodds quit in protest over the decision to cut overseas development aid to 0.3% of GNI (gross national income). She said she had kept silent until after the PM returned from talks with Donald Trump so as not to undermine him.
Ms Dodds said the cut risks appearing to ape Trump’s decision to freeze funding for the USAID agency – which supports aid and development around the world. She wrote: “I know you have been clear that you are not ideologically opposed to international development. But the reality is that this decision is already being portrayed as following in President Trump’s slipstream of cuts to USAID.”
And in a savage rebuke to Mr Starmer, she questioned whether his promise of support for conflict zones could be met. The outgoing minister wrote: “You have maintained that you want to continue support for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine; for vaccination; for climate; and for rules-based systems.
“Yet it will be impossible to maintain these priorities given the depth of the cut; the effect will be far greater than presented, even if assumptions made about reducing asylum costs hold true.”
Explaining her decision not to make her resignation public until after the PM’s Washington trip, she wrote: “As I stated to you earlier this week, it was imperative that you had a united cabinet behind you as you set off for Washington.
“Your determination to pursue peace through strength for Ukraine is one I share. It is for that reason that I am only writing to you now that your meeting with President Trump is over, and four days after you informed me of your decision to cut Overseas Development Assistance to 0.396 of GNI.”
Following her announcement, Save the Children UK Chief Executive Moazzam Malik said: “This resignation highlights the wide coalition against the Government’s decision to cut international aid to the lowest levels on record, at a time when conflict, humanitarian emergencies, climate change and deep seated poverty are devastating children’s lives.”
