Pictured above: Vital community health initiatives globally will be impacted by cuts to overseas development aid

Dear John,

As millions of people across the world are reeling from the sudden loss of USAID funding, with vital food and medication withdrawn from the most vulnerable overnight, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a 40% cut to the country's overseas development aid budget in order to fund increased military spending.

The reckless decision to slash UK aid, without consulting Parliament, in the name of 'security at home' simply looks like a political stunt designed to appease Donald Trump and compete with the far-right.

Ultimately, sacrificing the lives of thousands of people to win political points will only serve to increase the global insecurity it’s purportedly supposed to protect against.

Overseas development aid spending contributes to global security and stability by supporting peacebuilding and preventing the spread of diseases. Increasing defence spending to make the UK ‘secure at home’ while cutting aid is simply counterproductive.

We're asking people to act now to limit the damage this will cause in the following two ways:

• Residents of the UK can write to their member of Parliament (MP) and demand that they oppose this terrible decision

• You can make a donation today and help ensure that communities can still provide lifesaving care and supplies to people in need as funding becomes harder to secure.

The overseas development budget is already very low, costing just over 1p in every £1 of public spending. Meanwhile a significant proportion of it never leaves the UK - instead being used to cover the UK's asylum system.

Funding an increase in defence spending by raiding this small budget that already contributes to global stability is ludicrous . 

Whatever you can contribute, whether spreading the word, writing to your MP or making a donation, will help to build a more stable, more secure world for us all.

Warm regards,

Natalie Sharples,

Head of Policy & Campaigns