Labour/Co-op MP Anneliese Dodds has resigned her post as international development minister over Keir Starmer’s decision to almost halve the UK’s international aid budget to pay for an increase in defence spending.
In her resignation letter, Dodds acknowledged the prime minister had “no easy paths” but said it would be “impossible” for the UK to maintain its aid priorities given the depth of the cut.
The MP for Oxford East wrote: “Undoubtedly the postwar global order has come crashing down. I believe that we must increase spending on defence as a result; and know that there are no easy paths to doing so. I stood ready to work with you to deliver that increased spending, knowing some might well have had to come from ODA.
“Instead, the tactical decision was taken for ODA to absorb the entire burden. You have maintained that you want to continue support for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine; for vaccination; for climate; and for rules-based systems. Yet it will be impossible to maintain these priorities given the depth of the cut; the effect will be far greater than presented, even if assumptions made about reducing asylum costs hold true. The cut will also likely lead to a UK pull-out from numerous African, Caribbean and Western Balkan nations – at a time when Russia has been aggressively increasing its global presence.“
Related: Fund for International Co-operative Development launched by UK co-ops
And she warned: “It will likely lead to withdrawal from regional banks and a reduced commitment to the World Bank; the UK being shut out of numerous muitlateral bodies; and a reduced voice for the UK in the G7, G20 and in climate negotiations.All this while China is seeking to rewrite global rules, and when the climate crisis is the biggest security threat of them all.
“Ultimately, these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people – deeply harming the UK’s reputation. I know you have been clear that you are not ideologically opposed to international development. But the reality is that this decision is already being portrayed as following in president Trump’s slipstream of cuts to USAID.”
Dodds resignation comes as the Labour government faces increased pressure from an unstable global situation and increased polling figures at home from the populist Reform Party, which has seen calls from the Blue Labour movement to champion socially conservative values.
General secretary Joe Fortune says the campaign will highlight positive co-op and community initiatives to counter “divisive political forces … trying to drive us even further apart”.
