Thank you to everyone who has contacted me recently to raise concerns around cuts to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).

As you will have seen reported in the news, the Prime Minister recently announced that the aid budget will be cut to 0.3% of Gross National Income in 2027 to fund increased defence spending, specifically to enable us to provide more support to Ukraine.

For many of us, the aid budget reflects our own compassion, concern for others, and sense of obligation to people beyond the UK. We should be proud of the work we have done, as a nation, to help people after natural disasters, conflicts, famines, and terrorism.

The Government has announced the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, reflecting the security emergency we are facing. Ministers have announced defence spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament. Part of this investment in rearmament will be met by diverting some of the aid budget to defence spending. Other sources of funding for the defence of Ukraine include extending UK export finance, and reallocating frozen Russian financial assets towards Ukraine.

The Government is working hard to create a “coalition of the willing” to defend Ukraine, to secure Europe’s borders, and to ensure a lasting peace in the Russia-Ukraine war. Ministers have made it clear that the peace deal must be strong, lasting, and rest on Ukrainian sovereignty. We must never forget that this whole situation was caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We should be in no doubt that if Putin’s forces succeed in Ukraine, then other European sovereign states will also face invasion, bloodshed, and occupation.

The UK currently spends £13.4 billion on overseas aid. Based on current estimates, we will still be spending around £9bn on overseas development assistance in 2027.

In recent years, the development budget was redirected towards asylum backlogs, paying for hotels, so as the Government is clearing that backlog at a record pace, there are efficiencies that will reduce the need to cut spending on our overseas programmes.

We will continue to work with international partners to make a difference through development across the globe. We will focus on humanitarian support to war-torn regions including Gaza, the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine. We will also continue work to tackle the effects of climate change and support multilateral efforts to improve global health, including through vaccinations.

Labour Governments have a pioneering record on development, creating departments for overseas development in the 1960s and 1990s, and I remain committed to rebuilding our development capability when economic and fiscal conditions allow, as per the manifesto I stood on.