It’s hard to stomach. Right in the middle of a global debt crisis, with low-income countries struggling to protect their populations from coronavirus 

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Hi John,
It’s hard to stomach. Right in the middle of a global debt crisis, with low-income countries struggling to protect their populations from coronavirus and the economic fallout it entails, Britain is considering slashing its international aid spending.

Newspaper reports have said the Treasury wants to cut billions from the aid budget, reducing the target of 0.7% of national income to 0.5%. In theory, it’s temporary, but given the government is already breaking its manifesto pledge, that’s hard to believe. The decision will be made by Wednesday this week, when the government’s comprehensive spending review is announced.

We need Conservative MPs to hear from constituents today and tomorrow in protest. If you have a Conservative MP, can you write to your MP now?
Tell your MP not to cut aid ([link removed][UNIQID]#p:first_name=John&p:last_name=xxxxxx&p:[email protected]&p:activeopt=Yes)
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** Don’t cut aid, spend it properly

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The government has already reduced the budget by hundreds of millions because the UK economy has shrunk this year, but apparently that wasn’t enough. They now want to cut £4 billion more per year and ditch their manifesto promise to meet the 0.7% target. To add insult to injury, they announced plans for billions more in military spending in the same week.

For more than a decade there has been cross-party support for the level of aid spending. That’s why in recent years we have concentrated on how it is spent – exposing the scandal of how too much UK aid is spent on projects that fuel climate change, damage human rights or push private rather than public services in the global south. This trend looks set to get worse following the abolition of the Department for International Development in the summer, and we will continue this important campaign whatever happens this week.

But right now we need to defend the principle of aid itself. Aid is not the whole answer to global injustice, but if used properly, and when combined with action to reduce the damage the rich world does, it could help redistribute wealth and resources. Already there is a huge outcry about these possible cuts – more than 200 organisations wrote to the government in protest on Friday, while public figures from the Archbishop of Canterbury to former prime ministers and MPs from seven parties have criticised the move over the weekend. So far, Boris Johnson has refused to comment either way on maintaining 0.7%.

Over the next two days, we need to mobilise public support for aid, by inundating Conservative MPs with messages from their constituents opposing these cuts. We need every one of them to be in no doubt that if a 30% cut to the aid budget goes ahead, it will not go under the radar. This is a moment to stand up and be counted and demand our MPs act.

Can you write to your MP now, if they’re a Conservative, or share this action now, if they’re not?
Tell your MP not to cut aid ([link removed][UNIQID]#p:first_name=John&p:last_name=xxxxxx&p:[email protected]&p:activeopt=Yes)
Thank you,
Nick Dearden
Director, Global Justice Now

PS. Thank you so much if you’ve made a donation to our aid campaign in response to our email over the weekend. If you haven’t,you can still donate via our website. ([link removed][UNIQID]#p:first_name=John&p:last_name=xxxxxx&p:[email protected]&p:activeopt=Yes)

MORE INFO

UK aid budget facing billions in cuts, 17 November 2020, [link removed][UNIQID]

Boris Johnson agrees £16bn rise in defence spending, 18 November 2020, [link removed][UNIQID]

Boris Johnson urged by 200 charities not to cut international aid during global pandemic, 20 November 2020, [link removed][UNIQID]

Archbishop of Canterbury urges government not to cut overseas aid budget, 22 November 2020, [link removed][UNIQID]

Exclusive: David Cameron and Tony Blair warn against proposed cut to foreign aid budget, 20 November 2020, [link removed][UNIQID]
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