‘Billions impacted’ by UK government overseas aid cuts

Aid cuts showed a “total lack of honesty” on behalf of the UK government, the co-director of a leading Scottish research group has said.

Tomorrow’s Cities, a research hub based at the University of Edinburgh, specialises in disasterrisk management across the world, helping governments learn and reduce the risk to urban residents posed by natural disasters.

The project had received funding of nearly £5 million as part of UK government overseas aid funding, but following the decision to cut foreign aid their budget has been slashed to £1.4m, putting jobs at risk.

Professor John Mccloskey, the co-director of the hub, blasted the decision and said the research, which could have helped billions, would now be hampered by the funding cut.

"We have to lose 61 jobs and most of those are young scientists,” he said.

"I am shocked by the total lack of honesty of the people who signed the contracts or worse still, we signed the contracts on behalf of the UK government.

"It [£3m] wouldn’t keep [former prime minister] David Cameron in consultancy for a wet weekend and that’s the commitment that they have to honesty."

The intervention comes after the UK government decided to cut official development assistancefunding from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent of gross national income.

SNP MPS branded the decision a “permanent stain on the UK’S international standing”, with charities such as Save the Children saying cuts were made with “no consideration for the human harm they will cause”.

Prof Mccloskey’s work alongside 203 researchers around the world examines how best to future-proof cities as people move from rural to urban settings in the global south.

The cuts to aid, he said, could negatively impact the two billion extra global urban citizens directly.

Prof Mccloskey said: "It is groundbreaking research and it is going to change the future for billions of people.

“What they have done is that fantastic fore sight has just been thrown in the bin, why? To save £3m.”

Auk government spokesperson said the“seismic impact” of Covid-19 had meant “tough, but necessary decisions” on aid spending.