Read on Twitter
"the Prime Minister asked me to identify the changes needed to ensure we meet, but do not exceed the 0.7% commitment."
What kind of people are we that we are taking steps to avoid spending more than we have to on aid in the midst of a global health and economic crisis?
What kind of people are we that we are taking steps to avoid spending more than we have to on aid in the midst of a global health and economic crisis?
I wonder if the government has done an analysis of the costs to aid effectiveness of short-notice cuts and volatility of aid. This is the kind of behaviour that gives donors a bad reputation. It creates waste, destroys trust, burns relationships.
I have not yet seen a similar letter setting out the cuts in the defence budget needed to ensure that we "meet but do not exceed" the 2% NATO target on defence spending.
And of course, it would be nuts to cut defence spending in year, in response to a temporary fall in GDP. We need to sustain our defence capacity, and it would be grotesquely irresponsible to impose temporary cuts in-year.
Exactly the same is true of development cooperation. These are long term relationships and programmes that cannot be turned on and off like a tap.
To imagine that you can turn on and off development cooperation without impacting on effectiveness suggests a basic misunderstanding of what aid is used for. Like defence, it is a commitment and capacity that must be sustained and nurtured.
I am very glad that the government has found £15 billion for PPE so far this year. The OBR anticipates a cost of about £300bn for Covid this year. We can't find 1% of that to sustain our development partnerships through the year?
