Conservative Party plans to further cut foreign aid if they win the next general election would be an “epic act of self-harm”, a leading UK expert has said.
Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, the UK network of development organisations, said she is “deeply concerned” to hear shadow chancellor Mel Stride is set to announce plans to make more cuts to the aid budget.
Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference hosted by Bond and Conservative Friends of International Development, Ms Greenhill urged members to resist the policy, which would leave the UK’s soft power “in tatters”.
Former international development minister Andrew Mitchell said the news will be “difficult for us to bear”.
He argued that Labour’s decision to cut international aid in February was a “dereliction of duty and extraordinary turn of events” and condemned it “in the strongest possible terms”.
But he added that an incoming Conservative government would have some “difficult decisions” around cuts to spending and that international aid “will have to take a part in that”.
Addressing Conservative Party members, Ms Greenhill said: “We are deeply concerned to hear that the Conservative Party is about to fuel a further race to the bottom and enact additional devastating cuts to the UK aid budget if they were to win the next general election.
“And let’s just be really clear, such a policy would negatively impact millions of people around the world.
“It would harm deeply vital programmes being made in reducing, eradicating killer diseases, and it would also severely undermine our ability to respond to devastating global crises.”
She continued: “It’s a mistake to think that the cuts to the development budget will be popular.
“Time (and) again, polls show us that the UK public, they care about what we do abroad to help those that need it the most.
“They will be rightly concerned about the UK losing its moral compass and compassion.
“We too in the UK, if ODA (Official Development Assistance) is further cut, we will be left more vulnerable to the effects of conflicts that UK aid can help to avoid and respond to, more vulnerable to infectious diseases that UK aid has previously helped to contain and stop the spread of.”
She added: “Climate change is also another challenge.
“If we further cut aid, our global standing and soft power will be left in tatters as we withdraw vital support from critical international institutions.
“There are no two ways about it: implementing such a policy would be an epic act of self harm, and we urge you here to resist it.”
Mr Mitchell, who also served as shadow foreign secretary last year, accused the Labour Government of “cynicism” in its decision to cut international aid.
He said: “I think there will be many charges against this Labour Government when the next election comes, but one of them will be the cynicism in which they did that, supposedly to transfer the money into defence when there is a very strong link between defence, development and diplomacy.
“So I wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms what the Labour Government has done to development.”
He added: “Tomorrow there will be some difficult decisions that will have to be made by the outstanding shadow chancellor Mel Stride.
“And I think some of the things that he says will be quite difficult for us to bear.
“But I want to make it clear that, as a result of the work… the Government has been doing – increasing expenditure, increasing debt, increasing tax – we are now as a country floating on an enormous ocean of debt and the Labour Government does not have the ability to control and curtail that because their backbenchers won’t let them.
“So it is the fact that an incoming Tory government will inherit an incredibly difficult financial position that means it is important now that the party makes clear that it will cut this expenditure back to manageable levels and to expose the fact that Labour don’t appear to know what they’re doing.
“So it is clear that the Conservative Party has got to make its position absolutely clear, that we will be cutting that expenditure, and I’m afraid development will have to take a part in that.”
Mr Mitchell also said that if the UK wants to tackle illegal migration, “you have to address it at the source”.
He said: “If you want to deal with these things – pandemics, climate change and migration – you need international development funding.
“And on conflict and on building prosperity, international development funding does not only curtail and limit conflict overseas, it also helps to tackle poverty and those things make us safer in Britain and more prosperous in Britain, so this money is spent in our national interest.”
He added: “If you want to stop illegal migration you have to address it at the source.
“Of course, it’s right to have a deterrent, of course it’s right to make it clear, as we have today, that if you come to this country illegally you will not be allowed to stay. But if you want to stop migration, you have to tackle the problems that cause migration at their source.”
Adrian Lovett, UK executive director of the ONE Campaign, which advocates for investment in Africa, said the proposal to cut international assistance is “not serious policymaking”.
He said: “If it were ever enacted, it would cost millions of children’s lives and would also make Britain poorer, weaker and less safe.
“This seems to be more about trying to outdo others on the political right than about setting out responsible policy.”
