Announcement
prompts concerns that PM is pandering to US president and warnings over
consequences of aid cuts
Pippa Crerar
and Kiran Stacey
Tue 25 Feb
2025 19.21 GMT
Keir Starmer
has announced that Britain will “fight for peace in Europe” with a generational
increase in defence spending paid for by slashing the foreign aid budget.
The move,
just two days before the prime minister is due to meet Donald Trump, raised
immediate concerns that he was pandering to the US president, and fury from aid
groups that say it could cost lives in countries that rely on UK support.
In a
surprise announcement, Starmer announced the biggest increase in defence
spending since the end of the cold war, with the budget rising to 2.5% of GDP
by 2027 – three years earlier than planned – and an ambition to reach 3%.
Cabinet
ministers are among those who voiced concern over plans to cut aid spending by
40%, after Trump’s own drastic cuts to the US aid budget. Several warned in a
cabinet meeting of the risk of unintended consequences.
David Lammy,
the foreign secretary, said earlier this month that the US plan could be a “big
strategic mistake” that would allow China to step into the gap and extend its
global influence.
Writing in
the Guardian, Lammy said the decision to cut aid was an “extremely difficult
one” but added: “We are a government of pragmatists not ideologues – and we
have had to balance the compassion of our internationalism with the necessity
of our national security.”
The
government said it hoped savings could be made from the third of the
development budget that goes on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.
Starmer also
said the decision to cut aid had been an “extremely difficult and painful” one,
but said it was necessary to increase defence spending because “a generational
challenge requires a generational response”.
At a Downing
Street press conference, he told reporters: “I’ve taken a difficult choice
today because I believe in overseas development, and I know the impact of the
decision that I’ve had to take today, and I do not take it lightly.
“It is not a
decision that I, as a British Labour prime minister, would have wanted to take,
but a decision that I must make in order to secure the security and defence of
our country.”
European
leaders have been shocked by Trump’s hostile approach towards Ukraine in recent
weeks, including falsely accusing Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a dictator and
aligning the US with Russia despite its brutal invasion.
However, the
UK prime minister, who is travelling to Washington for what is likely to be a
diplomatically fraught visit to the White House on Thursday, denied that he had
been “bounced into” increasing defence spending by Trump.
The Guardian
view on Starmer’s aid cuts: they won’t buy security, but they will undermine it
Read more
“I think in
our heart of hearts, we’ve all known that this decision has been coming for
three years since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. The last few weeks
have accelerated my thinking on when we needed to make this announcement,” he
said.
Trump has
repeatedly put pressure on European countries to take more responsibility for
their own defence, after years of relying on the US. Pete Hegseth, the US
defence secretary, described the increase as “a strong step from an enduring
partner” after a call with his British counterpart.
The defence
spending is the equivalent of £6bn a year extra from 2027, rather than the
£13.4bn claimed by Starmer, as the higher figure is dependent on the defence
budget being frozen until that point, creating an artificially low baseline.
Downing
Street insiders believe that cutting the aid budget could be popular with the
type of voters inclined to back Reform UK that Labour needs to retain. However,
they acknowledge there is a risk they could lose support over the policy to the
Liberal Democrats and Green party.
The prime
minister discussed the move with his cabinet before announcing it, officials
said, and secured “agreement” before going ahead – though Downing Street would
not say what the tone of the conversation had been.
However,
cabinet sources said that while there had been unity over increasing defence
spending, several ministers had warned about the “unintended consequences” of
the decision on Britain’s international reputation and influence.
One source
described the move as a “necessary evil”, while a second said: “It feels like a
moment for the UK to really step up on defence but we’ve taken a risk
internationally.
The Guardian
understands that the longstanding pledge to spend £11.6bn on climate finance
for the developing world, made by Boris Johnson and reaffirmed by Starmer at
the UN Cop29 climate summit last year, will be ringfenced despite the slashing
of the budget elsewhere.
Underspending
on climate finance by the previous Tory government has meant the pledge – of
£11.6bn in the five years to 2025-26 – will be harder to meet, with analysis
last year suggesting that £3.8bn would need to be spent, taking up a large
slice of the official development assistance (ODA) budget.
David
Miliband, a former Labour foreign secretary who now leads the International
Rescue Committee, said: “The UK government’s decision to cut aid by £6bn in
order to fund defence spending is a blow to Britain’s proud reputation as a
global humanitarian and development leader.”
Sarah
Champion, the Labour chair of the international development committee, said:
“Aid and defence are linked, but they build upon each other to keep everyone
safe. Cutting one to fund the other will have dire consequences for us all as
it will make the world less stable.”
The Tory MP
Andrew Mitchell, a former international development secretary, criticised
Starmer’s plan as “shortsighted and damaging”.
He said:
“Balancing the books on the backs of the poorest people in the world isn’t just
wrong, it also makes the UK weaker and less secure. In taking this decision,
the government risks cutting off its nose to spite its face.
“While there
is an unanswerable case for increasing defence spending, the evidence shows
that doing this at the expense of international aid increases health and
security risks to the UK in the long run.”
Romilly
Greenhill, the chief executive of Bond, which represents British aid
organisations, described the development cuts as “a shortsighted and appalling
move” that would undermine the UK’s global commitments and credibility, but
also weaken British national security.
Starmer’s
visit to the White House, the second time he has met Trump, will take place
days after the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
amid tensions after a UN vote and during a turbulent period in transatlantic
relations.
It will be
the biggest test yet of his diplomatic and negotiating skills, as he tries to
balance the UK’s security and economic interests with retaining good relations
with the unpredictable US president.
As part of a
continued Europe-wide push on security, defence ministers from across the
continent are expected to meet in London on Sunday for a hastily arranged
summit. Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, hinted at the plan earlier on
Tuesday, which was then confirmed by UK sources.
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