Rishi Sunak is being urged to scrap the foreign aid budget (Image: PA)
Treasury officials are believed to be discussing the idea among a range of measures aimed at rebuilding the country’s shattered public finances. Figures from the Office for National Statistics last month showed UK public debt has soared over £2trillion for the first time in history because of emergency spending to support businesses during the lockdown and a collapse in tax revenue. Whitehall sources were yesterday reported having said the Chancellor wanted to “announce the intention” to scrap the target in the Budget.
Treasury officials declined to comment on the reports.
A Treasury spokeswoman said: “We can’t comment on speculation.”
But one senior Tory MP last night urged Mr Sunak to go ahead with axing the target.
Philip Davies, the MP for Shipley, said: “I very much hope the rumours of scrapping the foreign aid target are true.
“We must prioritise our needs at home and given how so much of it is wasted and given to countries who don’t need it, scrapping the aid target would be a very sensible step which would be hugely popular with the vast majority of voters.”
Many other Tories are likely to be in favour of scrapping the controversial target – set by the last Labour government and endorsed by David Cameron’s coalition – given the pressure on the public finances.
They have been critical of many examples of wasteful spending overseas in recent years with some of the cash being handed to countries such as China and India that spend billions on nuclear weapons and space exploration.
British taxpayers’ cash has been spent on dementia care in the Chinese province of Qingdao and yoga lessons for Indians with heart problems.
Ministers were expected to approve a massive £15.8billion of overseas aid spending this year as a result of the target.
A fall in GDP caused by the coronavirus lockdown is expected to cut that figure by nearly £3billion.
Scrapping the target would free the Chancellor’s hand to allocate billions from the aid budget to other needs such as reducing Government borrowing.
One obstacle to the change could be the need to repeal a law introduced under Mr Cameron to guarantee the spending commitment.
Boris Johnson is also understood to be reluctant to abandon promises made in the last Tory general election manifesto.
Preet Kaur Gill, Labour’s shadow international development secretary, said: “The British public are rightly proud of the role they have played in supporting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
“This latest move by the government to backtrack on a manifesto commitment they made last year shows that their word cannot be trusted, and signals a retreat from the world stage in the middle of a global pandemic.
“Labour is committed to continuing our global reputation as a development power by ensuring we continue to show Britain at its best; as an outward looking, progressive country making the world safer, fairer and better for all.”
Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem spokeswoman on international development, urged the Government not to abandon the target.
“For too many vulnerable people in need around the world, UK foreign aid has made the difference between life and death.
“Despite previous assurances, the mask has now slipped and we can see the callous Tories for who they really are.
“By scraping foreign aid, the Government is abandoning the world stage and turning a blind eye to the crippling poverty children face around the world,” she said.
Speculation about the future of the aid budget comes ahead of the merger of the Department for International Development (DfID) with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office tomorrow.
Mr Johnson ordered the change, claiming DfID was seen by many people around the world as a “giant cashpoint in the sky”.
He wants aid spending diverted towards projects that will benefit the UK’s national interests.
The new merged department, to be headed by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, is to be called the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
One Government official is reported to have warned that the new department’s initials will lead to it being nicknamed “Focado”, rhyming with online supermarket Ocado.
International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan will lose her frontbench job as a result of the shake-up but is tipped for a rapid return to the Cabinet at Mr Johnson’s next reshuffle.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Since its inception, the arbitrary 0.7 percent foreign aid target has led to appalling waste, with British taxpayers’ money being thrown at wealthy countries and spurious projects.”
