'Kwarteng is looking to save £5bn from Britain’s overseas aid budget as he tries desperately to convince investors he has a plan to reduce the country’s debt'
The shameful Tories are now looking to cut back on international aid spending in a bid to balance the books and offset unfunded tax cuts.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is looking to save £5bn from Britain’s overseas aid budget as he tries desperately to convince investors he has a plan to reduce the country’s debt, after a disastrous mini-budget that led to financial turmoil and the Tory party’s collapse in the polls.
The Financial Times reports that “government insiders said Kwarteng would not restore Britain’s overseas aid spending to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product in 2024, as had been planned by one of his predecessors, Rishi Sunak.”
Kwarteng’s plan to maintain the 0.5 per cent limit, would save £5bn a year. However, the plan is likely to face some opposition, including among Tory MPs. Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell told the FT: “Quite apart from the moral and national interest case, they would be hard pressed to get it through the House of Commons”.
Clearly the government doesn’t mind turning its back on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world, just so that it can fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the government would need a fiscal tightening of more than £60bn if it wants to convince investors that it can stabilise the public finances after the mini-budget’s disastrous impact.
It comes as the IMF once more urged the government to change its policy, telling it to ensure that its tax and spending plans are in line with the Bank of England’s inflation-fighting goals. The Washington-based organisation also warned that the UK faces the highest rate of inflation in the G7.
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