New ‘Aid For Trade' Plan Will Hurt Poorest, Warn Charities

Liz Truss insists the UK will not copy ‘malign actors' in the way it uses its aid budget

- Rob Merrick

Liz Truss has unveiled a major shake-up that will link overseas aid to expanding trade, triggering accusations that the UK is turning its back on the world's poorest. Britain will also direct more of its shrunken aid pot to bilateral projects, rather than through international bodies - prompting fears that aid will be slower to arrive after emergencies.

The foreign secretary is arguing that “trade helps countries to grow their economies, raise incomes, create jobs and lift themselves out of poverty". But Sarah Champion, the chair of the Commons international development committee, attacked what she said was a “depressing” intention to copy China's much-criticised "aid for trade" approach.