‘Not a Labour government’: Former development secretary Clare Short hits out over foreign aid cuts

Former international development secretary Clare Short has hit out at Keir Starmer’s decision to cut the foreign aid budget to boost defence spending, saying his administration is “in many respects… not a Labour government”.

The Prime Minister announced the “biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War”, boosting spending to 2.5 percent by 2027 with a “clear ambition” to reach three percent in the next Parliament.

The increase is being funded by a cut to Britain’s foreign aid budget, which will be slashed from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent in 2027.

This is despite a manifesto commitment from Labour to return development spending to 0.7 percent of gross national income “as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”.

Clare Short, who served as international development secretary under Tony Blair, criticised the move and said “it doesn’t understand that good development work is crucial to a sustainable future”.

She told LabourList: “It splashes money on defence spending and Ukraine and is not focused on bringing peace to Ukraine – and disgracefully, it has still not abolished the two-child benefit cap.

“I am afraid that, in many respects, this is simply not a Labour government.”

Short also warned of the prospect of Labour’s core supporters abandoning the party and that the “traditional Labour Party” faces destruction.

“The coalition of voters that have supported Labour since its foundation, low-income people, the morally concerned middle class, internationalists and supporters of the United Nations and international law, will splinter and the traditional Labour Party will be destroyed.”

READ MORE: Defence boost derails aid boost pledged in manifesto as Dodds dealt major blow

But another former New Labour minister, Ben Bradshaw, responded on BlueSky: “Get real, Clare. Britain & Europe face the greatest security challenge since WW2, given the threat from Putin & Trump ll.”

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports Sarah Champion, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons international development committee, has urged Keir Starmer to reconsider the cuts.

“I urge the prime minister to rethink today’s announcement. Cutting the aid budget to fund defence spending is a false economy that will only make the world less safe.”

Former shadow chancellor and suspended Labour MP John McDonnell also warned: “People will understand an increase in defence spending to pay for peacekeeping in Ukraine but to cut spending on tackling famine & poverty in the poorest areas of the world will cost lives.”

Their warnings come after a JL Partners poll, conducted last September for the British Foreign Policy Group, found that only nine percent of Labour voters back further cuts to the aid budget.

Some 15 percent said spending on aid should be hiked now to 0.7 percent, while, with another 36 percent backing Labour’s manifesto position of boosting spending on aid when the economy improves.

Another 23 percent said spending on aid should remain at 0.5 percent.

‘There is nothing progressive about leaving the UK under-defended’

However, former Royal Marine, Commons defence committee member and Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View said he welcomed the announcement.

“Defence spending is an opportunity for Britain – to deliver strength and stability abroad, whilst fuelling growth and innovation at home,” he said.

Harry Quilter-Pinner, executive director at IPPR, defended the decision and said: “The government is right to act decisively to increase defence spending – the world has changed radically even in the last week. Some on the left will find this difficult to accept, but there is nothing progressive about leaving the UK or Europe under-defended.”

Despite this, he also noted: “To navigate this era of global insecurity the UK will need new partnerships and alliances, and cutting the aid budget will undercut our ability to build them.”

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