Starmer follows Trump in cutting crucial foreign aid

The UK is expected to pledge £850m to the Global Fund – a cut of 15 per cent – despite previous assurances over funding

- RACHEL SCHRAER GLOBAL HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

Sir Keir Starmer is poised to slash £150m from Britain's contribution to the international fight against Aids, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, putting 255,000 lives at risk, The Independent understands.

The government is preparing to announce its contribution to the Global Fund as soon as next week, in one of the first major decisions since announcing it would dramatically reduce foreign aid to pay for defence spending.

The prime minister is expected to pledge £850m towards the Global Fund’s work over the next three years - a 15 per cent reduction compared with the previous pledge of £1bn in 2022, which itself was down from a pledge of £1.4bn in 2019.

The government has indicated that it will use Britain’s aid budget to contribute to the humanitarian response in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, as well as in support of global health. It has named the Global Fund, along with the global vaccine alliance Gavi, as organisations that are in line to receive a bigger share of its aid spending.

Nevertheless, the cut in aid could threaten the Global Fund’s plan to raise $18bn (around £14bn) to save 23 million lives between 2027 and 2029. Worldwide NGO the ONE campaign calculates that a £1bn commitment by the UK would save 1.7 million lives, so a £150m drop would see an estimated 255,000 lives lost.