International development minister Anneliese Dodds resigns over Keir Starmer's decision to cut aid budget

[muriel_volestrangler]

Anneliese Dodds, the international development minister, has quit her post over Keir Starmer’s decision to slash the international aid budget by almost half to pay for a generational increase in defence spending.

The senior Labour MP, who attended cabinet, predicted that the UK pulling back from development would bolster Russia, which has already been aggressively increasing its presence worldwide, as well as encourage China’s attempts to rewrite global rules.

She predicted that the prime minister would find it “impossible” to deliver on his commitment to maintain development spending in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine with the diminished budget, which will fall by about £6bn by 2027.
...
She concluded: “Ultimately, these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people – deeply harming the UK’s reputation. I know you have been clear that you are not ideologically opposed to international development. But the reality is that this decision is already being portrayed as following in President Trump’s slipstream of cuts to USAid.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/feb/28/anneliese-dodds-resigns-keir-starmer-cut-aid-budget

[Celerity]

1. Dodds's departure is the first resignation over policy in Sir Keir Starmer's government

[Emrys]

2. A modest effort to collect unpaid tax from the extremely rich,

or a small dent in their income though a marginal tax increase would more than cover the funds needed. Heck, I'm sure something creative could be done about the vastly expensive properties in London bought by Russian oligarchs over the years.

Going after international aid is shortsighted and cowardly.