This is not the White House – this is Our House. It’s time to stop the aid cuts

On Tuesday night, as darkness fell across Westminster, the ONE Campaign sent an unambiguous message to the UK government: “Aid cuts will kill. This is not the White House, this is Our House. Think again. Stop the cuts.”

Armed with a projector, we splashed these words across the entire length of the Houses of Parliament. It was a direct response to the Prime Minister’s announcement last week that the government will slash international aid to fund an increase in defence spending.

Under this plan, the aid budget will fall from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) from 2027, a cut of around 40% in real terms. This would put UK aid spending at its lowest level in over 25 years – at a time when crises are mounting, and the need for global leadership is becoming even more glaring.

Given the state of the world right now, there is a compelling case for bolstering the UK’s defence spending. But paying for it entirely out of the aid budget was not the only option on the table. As senior armed forces leaders have noted, aid and military spending are complementary, not contradictory.

It’s further proof that this was a political choice – and a self-defeating one at that.Aid is the first line of defence against the many hardships and injustices that wreak havoc on the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. This short-sighted move will hamper Britain’s ability to respond to crises abroad, including pandemics, natural disasters and famines. Beyond the cruelty, it’s also a false economy. Aid supports education abroad, and fosters closer trade links. Cutting these programmes will slow economic development, from which we all benefit.

The only winners are those who want to sow instability, extremism and conflict. Although the effects will be felt most acutely elsewhere, Britain itself may well become a less safe, healthy and prosperous country as a result.This move follows the announcement by the White House to terminate over two-thirds of the US’s international aid contracts, grants and agreements, which was met with widespread alarm. Britain should have bucked this trend – instead it has chosen to follow it blindly.

This is not who we are as a country. The Prime Minister should think again, and stop the cuts.

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Adrian Lovett is the UK Executive Director of the ONE Campaign.

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