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Anneliese Dodds says £120m aid package for Sudan is ‘well spent’ after quitting government over foreign aid cuts
16 April 2025, 01:33
Anneliese Dodds has told LBC News that the government’s £120m aid package for Sudan is “well spent when it comes to that dreadful crisis” after quitting the government over foreign aid budget cuts.
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The former Minister for International Development has told LBC’s Ben Kentish that the aid package is well spent given the ‘horrendous catastrophe’ in the war-ravaged country.
It comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced a £120m aid package, saying Sudan’s stability is "vital for our national security" and that the UK “will not let Sudan be forgotten."
Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy described the war in Sudan as "brutal" at a London meeting on Tuesday to mark the conflict's two-year anniversary.
The UK co-hosted the gathering alongside the 55-member African Union bloc, the European Union, France and Germany, attended by representatives from other states including South Sudan, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Fighting began in April 2023 with armed clashes between the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary organisation and the Sudanese Armed Forces.
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According to United Nations (UN) agencies, more than 12.7 million people have been forcibly displaced in the war, with 1.1 million moving into South Sudan and 1.5 million into Egypt.
Ms Dodds said: "Currently in Sudan there are 25 million people facing extreme hunger. That's more than the population of London and the southeast of England combined…
“That's the scale of what we're talking about here. It's a horrendous catastrophe. It is, arguably, the biggest humanitarian crisis. We may look back and see it as a huge catastrophe where not enough was done."
"I think the British public, actually, when they hear about that detail, when they know that money is well spent, then there's a different conversation, and I'm confident that it is well spent when it comes to that dreadful crisis in Sudan."
The Labour MP for Oxford East quit her role as Minister for International Development at the end of February over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to slash foreign aid to increase defence spending.
The PM announced a £13.4 billion boost in defence spending, paid for by a substantial cut in the foreign aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% in 2027.
UK provides £120 million aid package to Sudan
Ms Dodds posted her resignation letter online, warning cuts to aid spending will diminish Britain's standing across the globe and bolster Russia and China's attempts to reshape the global order.
She has now said she ‘stands by’ her decision, but appreciates the move to send aid to Sudan.
“I set out the reasons why I didn't agree with it at the time. That's there for everyone to see. I thought it was important that we had a broader discussion about, for example, our fiscal rules and taxation,” she said.
She added: “Now, I stand by that. But I also believe, as I said before, it's really important that we see the kind of leadership that we've seen today coming from the UK.
“I didn't see any other country able to bring together everyone from the African Union through to the EU, the UN and many of the African countries around Sudan as well. I think it's really important that we sought to do that today.”
The new £120 million funding is for the 2025/26 financial year and aims to reach more than 600,000 people, with the money going towards supplying people including vulnerable children with pulses, oils, salts and cereals.
It will also help provide emergency support to survivors of sexual violence.
This follows a separate £113 million aid package announced last November, before the Government decision to cut UK development spending from 0.5% of GNI (gross national income) to 0.3% by 2027.
