Dominic Raab has insisted his department acted in a “fully transparent way” in setting out how foreign aid would be spent after he was accused of “sneaking out” cuts to the budget.
The Foreign Secretary set out the priorities for how the £8.11 billion of the aid budget will be allocated by the Foreign Office – approximately 80% of the total UK spend.
The Government shelved a manifesto commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis, cutting it to 0.5%.
Some 200 UK charities said in a joint statement that cuts to the foreign aid budget represented a “tragic blow” for many of the world’s most at-risk communities.