Cuts to ODA budget
As a Borgen Project Ambassador and Putney constituent, I am writing to express my concern and repulsion at Labour’s announcement to slash the ODA’s foreign aid budget nearly in half (from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3%). The latest round of cuts threatens to strip an estimated £150 million from programmes fighting tuberculosis, AIDS, and malaria—diseases that continue to kill millions and disproportionately affect the world’s poorest communities. These abhorrent cuts follow the dark path set out by Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, who’s governments slashed the ODA and USAID budgets, also resulting in massive global deaths from disease and hunger. I think it’s important to clear up a few common misconceptions around foreign aid spending. Surveys show that Britons routinely overestimate how much we spend on foreign aid, with many believing it accounts for 10% of national spending when, even at 0.7% (now 0.3%), it was less than a penny in the pound. In addition, there’s often a notion that foreign aid is a leftwing or progressive concept, in truth, both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher strengthened development efforts, recognizing that stability abroad furthers security and prosperity at home. Wandsworth is proudly “the Brighter Borough” and “the Borough of Culture,” these slogans reflect our shared values of compassion, openness, and outward-looking values. Standing up for foreign aid means standing up for who we are. I’d like to commend my local MP, Fleur Anderson, for upholding these values through her work opposing these cuts and championing effective, life-saving development assistance. I encourage her to continue and urge her colleges to join in her courageous efforts.The Borgen Project works to ensure communities like ours speak up for smart, humane foreign policy. Wandsworth should continue to lead that effort.Oliver Lefferts
Oliver Lefferts ● 3d5 Comments ● 2d