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EXPERT COMMENT

Emergency programmes are already in disarray, while in the long term, revisionist powers like China will seize chances to build influence.

The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer announced last week the UK would fund increased spending on defence by cutting its aid budget from roughly 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent. His development minister, Anneliese Dodds, resigned on principle over the extent of the cuts on Friday. The decision comes just weeks after President Trump ordered a freeze on US aid spending and told European nations they needed to boost defence spending considerably. 

The UK’s aid cut was one in a series made since 2020. The country’s aid budget is now at its lowest for decades, with funding for long-standing recipients and humanitarian emergencies particularly hit. The UK is not alone – France and Germany have also cut aid budgets in recent years. 

But the European cuts, while meaningful, are dwarfed by the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to shutter USAID and freeze almost all of its federal aid spending. The move calls into question the modern system of aid and development, in which the US has had a central role, including funding major UN agencies and supporting massive basic healthcare programmes.   

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