World’s poorest ‘going hungry because we are not signing off cheques’, furious MPs tell Dominic Raab

Dominic Raab clashed with MPs today as he defended the UK’s decision to slash aid for the world’s poorest by £4billion because of the pandemic. 

The Foreign Secretary was told that delays to signing off cash for aid agencies – which should have been done almost a month ago – had left them in a state of flux.

He faced the International Development Committee today after last night’s confirmation that official development assistance (ODA) was being slashed from from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of gross national income.

He would also only pledge to return aid to its previous level ‘once we recover’ from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Committee chairwoman Sarah Champion accused the Foreign Secretary of  ‘sneaking out’ the announcement in a written ministerial statement (WMS) shortly before the end of the working day.

She revealed that an aid agency in Syria had faced funding problems because money for this year had yet to be allocated.

She told him: ‘People are going hungry because we are not signing off cheques.’

The Foreign Secretary was told that delays to signing off cash for aid agencies – which should have been done almost a month ago – had left them in a state of flux.

Yemeni volunteers prepare food aid for Iftar, the meal traditionally taken after sunset prayers during Ramadan, to be distributed to the poor and needy in Sanaa

Yemeni volunteers prepare food aid for Iftar, the meal traditionally taken after sunset prayers during Ramadan, to be distributed to the poor and needy in Sanaa

Committee chairwoman Sarah Champion accused the Foreign Secretary of 'sneaking out' to announcement in a written ministerial statement (WMS) shortly before the end of the working day.

Committee chairwoman Sarah Champion accused the Foreign Secretary of ‘sneaking out’ to announcement in a written ministerial statement (WMS) shortly before the end of the working day.

But an angry Mr Raab hit back, saying: ‘I don’t accept your headline view that we are not still maintaining our proud legacy and tradition of being generous by global standards and no one is going hungry because we haven’t signed cheques.

‘That is just not true.’ 

Mr Raab last night set out how £8.11 billion of the aid budget would be allocated by the Foreign Office – approximately 80 per cent of the total UK spend – including £906 million for humanitarian preparedness and response.

Work involving that money will focus on countries most affected by risk of famine, including Yemen, Syria, Somalia and South Sudan.

The Government expects just less than £10 billion to be allocated to departments for aid spending in 2021/22.

Aid for China is being cut from £18million to just £900,000, with what remains being focused on pro-democracy projects. 

Mr Raab today rejected accusations of ‘sneaking out’ the cuts to foreign aid, claiming that thematic spending would not ‘normally’ be set out at this point of the financial year.

Asked why he did not make the announcement in the Commons, Mr Raab told the International Development Committee: ‘First of all, we wouldn’t normally set out the thematic allocations, the spending, at this early stage in the financial year.

‘In fact, I think it’s almost unprecedented. So, what I have tried to do is set out the raw data, broken down by allocation.

‘We haven’t done this in anything other than a fully transparent way, given it to the committee, and indeed members of the House, the day before, precisely so that you can grill me for the two hours you have got me here today.

‘The normal process, just to be clear, is for country allocations to be published by the Statistics for International Development, and that process doesn’t take place until 2022.’

Last night aid agencies said the anouncement was ‘a tragic blow for many of the world’s most marginalised people the UK once supported, and for the UK’s reputation as a trusted development partner’.

In a joint statement, agencies including Save the Children, Oxfam, ONE, Christian Aid, Care International and The HALO Trust said: ‘The government has not even spared countries ravaged by humanitarian crisis, disease, war and poverty. 

‘When other nations are stepping forward and bolstering their aid budgets, the UK has instead chosen to step back.

‘In a year when the UK has the chance to show leadership at G7 and COP26, withdrawing vital investment needed to keep everyone safe from health pandemics, conflicts and climate change, is the wrong move.’

Save the Children chief executive Kevin Watkins added: ‘These cuts will trim UK borrowing by a fraction, but devastate lives across many of the world’s poorest countries.

‘At a time when the UK should be leading the international community in responding to the climate crisis ahead of the climate summit, it is slashing aid to communities on the front line of that crisis.

‘The UK’s hard-won reputation for international leadership in aid is in tatters.’