UK: Minister resigns over cut in foreign aid

LONDON

A British Foreign Office minister has resigned on Wednesday, in protest to a government announcement over a sizeable cut in foreign aid.

Baroness Liz Sugg, a member of the parliament’s upper house, announced her resignation in a Twitter post, saying the latest government move to cut foreign aid was “fundamentally wrong”.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed in the House of Commons that the British foreign aid will be reduced from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP next year, in a bid to help fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, former prime ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair warned the government in a joint letter about the move, which they argued would let down the world’s poorest countries benefiting from the aid.

The revealed cut in foreign aid will be £4 billion ($5.35 billion) for 2021.