This delusional foreign aid policy may backfire on UK

Keir Starmer clocked up another achievement on foreign affairs this week after he and fellow European leaders persuaded Donald Trump to offer US security guarantees to Ukraine.

- ANDREW GRICE

Trump's change of tack was a vindication of Starmer’s “softly, softly” approach towards the US president. At White House talks, the prime minister did not press Trump on the need for a ceasefire in Ukraine, as France's and Germany's leaders did, after the US president cooled on the idea. Other leaders, including Volodymyr Zelensky, have come to realise that with Trump, flattery will get you everywhere.

Ominously, Vladimir Putin is stalling on peace talks (again), but Starmer's plan for a “reassurance force” to be based in Ukraine, drawn up with France, is at least back on the table. Its death has often been predicted - even senior Whitehall figures were privately sceptical. “We knew it wouldn't fly without US backup, but it's still alive,” one government insider told me.

However, there is one area of foreign policy where Starmer has a less than impressive record - his government's decision to reduce its foreign aid budget from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of gross national income by 2027.

The £6.2bn cut has not had the attention it deserves, and at Westminster, it's the dog that didn't bark. There was no rebellion by Labour MPs after the 40 per cent reduction was announced in February, partly because the savings were switched to the defence budget - vital in Trumpworld.