The Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary have privately committed to the plan, which is likely to put pressure on the Treasury to raise taxes.
The Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary have privately committed to the plan (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband have secretly plotted to reverse foreign aid cuts in a bombshell move set to trigger fresh misery for UK taxpayers. The pair have privately signalled their intention to restore Britain’s international development spending to 0.7% of gross national income (GNI), according to reports.
The standard target was drastically slashed under Sir Keir Starmer‘s administration, plunging from 0.5% down to just 0.3% by 2027 to help plug gaps in defence spending. Now, top-level Labour figures are quietly plotting a course back to the multi-billion pound commitment, piling intense pressure on the Treasury to fund the massive spending spree through crippling tax hikes or eye-watering public borrowing. According to economic experts at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), reaching the 0.7% threshold again would require an extra £13billion a year.
Miliband is aggressively pushing to put climate policy and foreign aid back at the centre of Government strategy (Image: Getty)
Max Warner, senior research economist at the IFS, told the i Paper: “These are not insignificant sums, and as with any increase in spending, would need to be funded by some combination of lower spending elsewhere, higher taxes or higher borrowing.”
While no fixed timeline has been set, the revelations mark a major internal battle over the nation’s purse strings. Restoring overseas aid to 0.7% threatens to create a massive £13billion black hole in the Budget each year. The secret plan follows intense backbench pressure from Labour MPs like Fleur Anderson, who want a 10-year roadmap to rebuild the target. However, it exposes a glaring conflict between global ambitions and local needs, with Mr Burnham already facing backlash for diverting international climate grants into loans to fund domestic pledges like the £2 bus fare cap.
Despite tight public finances and heavy strain on the NHS, Mr Miliband has aggressively pushed to place global climate policy and overseas development back at the heart of Government strategy, taking up Britain’s seat at the World Bank as an early statement of intent.
Responding to reports of Mr Burnham’s support for reinstating the 0.7% benchmark, a No 10 source pointed to Labour’s manifesto, which states that the party is “committed to restoring development spending at the level of 0.7 per cent of GNI as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”.