PM ‘is balancing the books on the backs of the world’s poor’

BORIS Johnson faced claims of ‘balancing the books on the backs of the poorest in the world’ as Tory MPs condemned his cuts to aid spending.

The Prime Minister was roundly criticised by MPs of all sides for shelving his manifesto commitment to maintain spending at 0.7% of national income, instead reducing it to 0.5% - citing the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

But some of the fiercest and most pointed remarks came from members of his own benches, with Foreign Office minister James Cleverly sent out to defend the policy in response to an urgent question in the Commons.

Conservative former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell warned the “dreadful” political decision to slash overseas aid “shames our country and our Government”.

Conservative former prime minister Theresa May added: “The integrated review identifies the United Kingdom as a soft power superpower, citing as one of the reasons our contribution to international development.

“Exactly how is that position going to be enhanced by the action of cutting aid to the world’s poorest?”

For Labour, shadow international development secretary Preet Kaur

Gill said: “Make no mistake, slashing humanitarian support in the middle of a global pandemic is callous and incredibly short-sighted. People will lose their lives as a result of the cuts and we will all be less safe.”

Responding to the urgent question for the Government, Mr Cleverly said: “The simple truth is the UK economy is 11.3% smaller than it was last year and is undergoing the worst economic contraction for 300 years.”