UK aid to hit 17-year low if budget does not top it up, NGOs warn

UK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector warned today.

- Patrick Wintour

The budget dedicated to providing aid overseas will be just 0.36% of gross national income (GNI) in 2024 largely owing to huge sums in the budget being diverted to hosting asylum-seekers in the UK, the aid organisations say.

The joint statement warns: "If these plans are not urgently revised, the prime minister and his government will be withdrawing vital services and humanitarian support from millions of marginalised people globally and turning up empty-handed to global forums."

It is the first coordinated pressure placed on Labour over cuts to aid spending since the election. It has been prompted by concerns the Treasury will not supplement the aid budget to take into account the large proportion of the budget still being swallowed up by housing refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.