PM cuts overseas aid to increase defence budget in 'fight for peace'

Surprise decision triggers fury from relief agencies over 'dire consequences'

- Pippa Crerar , Kiran Stacey

Keir Starmer said yesterday that Britain would "fight for peace" in Europe with a generational increase in defence spending to be paid for by slashing the foreign aid budget.

The surprise announcement, two days before the prime minister is due to meet Donald Trump, raised immediate concerns that he was pandering to the US president and fury from aid groups who say it could cost lives in countries that rely on UK support.

Starmer revealed the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war, with the budget rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027—three years earlier than planned—and an ambition to eventually reach 3%.

Cabinet ministers are among those who voiced concern over plans to cut aid spending by 40%—coming after Trump's drastic cuts to the US aid budget—with several warning in a cabinet meeting of the risk of unintended consequences.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, told the Guardian this month that the US plan could be a "big strategic mistake" that would allow China to step into the gap and extend its global influence. Starmer acknowledged the decision to cut aid had been "extremely difficult and painful" but insisted it was necessary to increase defence spending because "a generational challenge requires a generational response".

At a Downing Street press conference, he told reporters: "I've taken a difficult choice because I believe in overseas development, and I know the impact of the decision I've had to take today, and I do not take it lightly.