UK Aid Cuts Betray The World’s Most Marginalised People, Christian Aid Warns

International development charity, Christian Aid, has warned the UK Government’s cuts to the aid budget represent a “betrayal of the world’s most marginalised people” and is calling on Ministers to restore the aid budget and “cancel the debt of countries whose people are in jeopardy.”

The intervention comes in response to an internal assessment by civil servants which warns hundreds of thousands more women will face unsafe abortions and thousands will die in pregnancy and childbirth because of UK aid cuts in 2023-24.

Jennifer Larbie, Christian Aid’s Head of Campaigns and UK Advocacy, said: “Even when marking their own homework, Ministers cannot escape the horrible truth that their erosion of international aid represents a betrayal of the world’s most marginalised people.

“The UK has a historic and moral responsibility for ending extreme poverty. We must not accept the false choice between responding to poverty at home and fulfilling our responsibilities to the vulnerable women and girls around the world.

“No ifs and no buts, the UK’s aid budget must be restored.

“We need a government that will release new resources, not just by restoring the aid budget but also by getting private creditors such as the big banks to cancel the debt of countries whose people are in jeopardy.”