Brighton Labour councillor quits party over Starmer’s foreign aid cuts

A Brighton and Hove City councillor has resigned from the Labour Party over the government’s cuts to the foreign aid budget to fund a hike in defence spending.

Bruno De Oliveira quit the party in the wake of the Prime Minister’s announcement – which came just days before he travelled to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump.

Keir Starmer had announced the cuts to the aid as a means of bolstering Britain’s defence spending amid fears that a peace deal in Ukraine favourable to Russia could see Putin target other European nations.

Councillor De Oliveira said: “The wake-up call to Europe is very real but taking money from people who are being bombed to make bombs is utterly inadequate and awful.

“The decision to slash its aid budget is not just an economic recalibration, it’s a humanitarian backslide with serious consequences for the health and wellbeing of people fleeing war.

Starmer himself said that foreign aid cuts are “not an announcement I am happy to make”, but remarked that “European countries must do more for their own defence”.

READ MORE: ‘Love it or loathe it, aid cuts and defence cash play well on the doorstep’

De Oliveira added: “The narrative of ‘tough choices’ and ‘fiscal responsibility’ sounds reasonable until you remember that these ‘choices’ are being made over human lives, not spreadsheets. People fleeing war often arrive with acute healthcare needs, from physical injuries to chronic conditions worsened by displacement.

“The aid cuts mean fewer medical supplies, more children dying of preventable diseases, reduced funding for field hospitals and understaffed clinics, leaving vulnerable populations with limited access to basic healthcare.”

He also questioned whether the Labour Party was the same party of Tony Benn, who said: “If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people.”

It comes after long-serving Wigan councillor Pat Draper also quit the party in recent days.

While she did not explicitly reference the aid cuts, the councillor said Labour has “left the working class behind with lies and broken promises” and that there “is always money for war, but not enough for our pensioners, children, working people, disabled people, with the food banks and child poverty increasing.”

For more from LabourList, subscribe to our daily newsletter roundup of all things Labour – and follow us on  Bluesky, WhatsApp, Threads, X or Facebook .

• SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
• SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
• DONATE: If you value our work, please chip in a few pounds a week and become one of our supporters, helping sustain and expand our coverage.
• PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
• ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].