The Prime Minister was questioned on planned aid cuts in parliament on Tuesday.

Sir Keir Starmer has been told he must honour his manifesto commitment and return UK international aid to previous levels. 

The Prime Minister spoke to Parliament's Liaison Committee and answered questions on the UK aid cuts this week. 

During the session on Tuesday, he repeated that he "didn’t want to make the decision" to cut the UK aid budget and that his vision for the UK's development work was for “a healthier thriving world where we reduce conflict, tension, corruption and ill health."

the UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be reduced by 0.2 % of GNI, to fund an increase in defence spending from 2.3 to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. 

This cut will bring UK ODA as a percentage of GNI to 0.3%, with the the Spring Statement outlining that the UK aid budget is planned to be reduced to 0.48% of GNI in 2025/26, and to 0.34% of GNI in 2026/27.

Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, the UK network for organisations working in international development and humanitarian assistance, said: "The Prime Minister says that he wants ‘a healthier, thriving world, where we reduce conflict, tension, corruption and ill health’, cutting the UK aid budget will not make this possible, undermining every one of these goals. We are also yet to see the impact assessment for these cuts.

“It is encouraging to hear the Prime Minister's intention to reduce expensive bills for housing asylum seekers in unsuitable hotels, but we are deeply concerned that he did not commit to ensuring any recovered funds are reinvested back to the UK aid budget. It is vital that we support asylum seekers, but this funding should come from a separate budget rather than being diverted from the heavily limited UK aid budget.

“We urge the Prime Minister to honour his manifesto promise and take meaningful steps to restore the UK’s credibility as a reliable, ambitious and equitable development partner. Along with returning the UK aid budget to previous levels, this means working with international partners to tackle the global debt crisis and pushing for urgent reforms to create a fairer, more inclusive international financial system.”