….Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the government will slash overseas aid spending to boost defence to reach 2.5% of GDP within the next two years.. . Starmer said cutting aid wasn’t a decision he was “happy” to make but was necessary in response to “tyrant” Vladimir Putin and uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s commitment to European security.
Overseas aid will be cut from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% by 2027 – a move that has already sparked backlash from MPs and aid charities who called it “short-sighted” and a “betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable children”.
The PM said the cut will help defence spending to rise from its current 2.3% share of the economy to 2.5% in 2027.
That will mean spending £13.4 billion more every year from 2027, something which he acknowledged required “extremely difficult and painful choices”.
