THE SNP have urged Boris Johnson to reverse the UK’s “grotesquely inhumane” aid budget cuts as Tory rebels seek to force the PM’s hand.
Live Aid figurehead Bob Geldof yesterday accused the Conservatives of putting lives at stake for “the cheap short-term pop of populism” over the decision to break their manifesto pledge on overseas development cash.
Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “We don’t beat up the world’s poor.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, says there is cautious optimism amongst Tory rebels that Johnson can be backed-in to a U-turn on moves to abandon the commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on helping people abroad.
READ MORE: SNP challenge Tories to ‘end deafening silence’ over foreign aid cuts
Families are going hungry and girls are missing school because of the UK’s cuts to foreign aid spending, dozens of charities and academics have warned.
The UK Government says Covid-19’s economic shock is to blame and it will still spend more than £10 billion on this area in 2021 if it drops the aid budget to 0.5% of GDP.
But charities including Oxfam, Save the Children and ActionAid UK say there is “no justifiable economic need” for the planned cuts of almost £4bn per year, something they say will be a “double blow” to poor countries already struggling with coronavirus and undermine UK credibility at the G7 summit, which opens this week.
As many as 30 Tory MPs – including former PM Theresa May – have supported an amendment which would require new legislation to make up the shortfall left by the cut to the UK’s official development assistance.
Appearing on Sky News, Tugendhat said the group is “cautiously optimistic” that it has enough support to make a change. He went on: “The reality is that what we’re trying to do here is we’re trying to make sure that Britain’s foreign footprint, that global Britain, really means something.
“I think that’s absolutely vital to making sure we achieve our ambitions and our potential.
“The reality is Britain has a huge opportunity to shape the world at the moment of extraordinary flux and this, along with our defence and diplomatic and trade capabilities, is part of that, so I’m absolutely committed to making sure Britain really is great on the international stage.
“The Prime Minister has been as clear as you can possibly be about global Britain being an ambition for all of us, so I’m delighted that he has expressed support and I hope very much that he’ll see that this is an opportunity to demonstrate it.”
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford commented: “The decision to slash the UK’s aid budget amid a global pandemic is grotesquely inhumane and should be condemned in the strongest possible manner.
“Families and communities across the world are facing financial challenges not witnessed in our lifetime, yet this UK Tory government are insistent on implementing more toxic austerity measures which will have devastating consequences.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson faces Tory rebellion over aid cuts as Theresa May backs effort
“It speaks volumes that Boris Johnson would priorities cuts like this during the same period the UK prepare to host the G7. It is truly shameful.
“The harsh reality of this decision is that this will cost lives. The UK have a legal and moral obligation to support countries that are less fortunate than we are – this decision breaks both of those.
“I am urging the Prime Minister to heed the warnings and urgently reverse the UK Government’s decision to cut the aid budget. As we continue to battle this deadly virus, we simply cannot abandon those in desperate need of our support.”
Geldof told Marr the move “would be vastly damaging for Britain’s soft power, for its reputation, particularly at a weekend when we invite the world’s most powerful leaders of the world’s biggest economies to come here and talk about such matters with us,” adding: “It seems remarkably maladroit and inept.”
He went on: “I am saying, you know, ‘Prime Minister, what’s this about? You are going to meet your peers at the weekend. This is one we lead on already. Seriously lead on, we led the charge. We committed to it. The entire country through their MPs promised it. Go in there with our head held high’.”
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