Starmer's cuts to global aid are the very definition of inhumane

Keir Starmer probably doesn’t think he has much to thank Elon Musk for - this was, after all, the man who accused him of being “complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN”.

- Steve Bloomfield

But Musk’s destruction of USAID, which a recent Lancet study suggested could lead to the deaths of 14 million people within five years, has utterly overshadowed the prime minister's decision to drastically cut his own international aid budget.

The numbers are stark. In 2024 the UK spent £14bn on development assistance, but next year that will fall by 40%. The impact is already becoming clear. Earlier this month, the UK boasted it would give £1.25bn to the global alliance on vaccines over the next five years. What went unsaid in the congratulatory press release was that a Labour government was spending £400m less on vaccines for the world’s poorest children than the last Tory government.

"It’s one of the most effective ways of saving children’s lives,” said Jamie Drummond, co-founder of the ONE campaign. That extra £400m, he estimated, could have saved 365,000 children’s lives. “It’s a dramatic and horrific cut.”

Support for some of the world’s poorest countries will also shrink. The UK spent £346m on education and £764m on health in 2023, and experts believe both budgets could be halved. Money to build roads and bridges, to support democracy, to encourage open societies - all of it will be slashed dramatically.