Starmer’s cuts to UK aid budget are ‘cruel and shameful’, say experts

<p>Reduction to 0.3% of gross national income in order to fund defence spending has been decried as a ‘move to appease Trump’</p><p>The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, has “taken from the mouths of the hungriest people in the world” by cutting aid spending, campaigners have warned.</p><p>The announcement that UK Official Development Assistance would be cut to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/feb/25/yvette-cooper-labour-mike-amesbury-keir-starmer-conservatives-kemi-badenoch-uk-politics-live-news-updates?filterKeyEvents=false&amp;page=with%3Ablock-67bdbb898f08a7620e84acea#block-67bdbb898f08a7620e84acea">0.3% of gross national income</a> (GNI) in order to fund an increase in defence spending was called cruel and shameful. Experts working in the aid sector said they feared a disproportionate impact on women and girls, and on sexual and reproductive rights globally.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/25/starmer-cuts-to-uk-aid-budget-defence-trump-cruel-and-shameful-say-experts">Continue reading...</a>