Starmer accused of hypocrisy over sharp cuts to World Food Programme | Aid
Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy after cutting funding to the World Food Program by a third while promising to tackle “pain and hunger”.
The reduction in the UK’s funding for the World Food Program (WFP) to $435 million last year from $610 million (£448 million) in 2024 is part of a wider reduction in aid spending that campaigners say is putting lives at risk.
Apart from WFP cuts, the government has not made any financial commitments despite hosting a two-day conference on hunger and malnutrition in Afghanistan last year.
A government spokesman said the UK remained the fifth largest donor to WFP.
Former Conservative aid minister Michael Bates in the House of Lords said ministers were cutting funding because hunger cases were rising “exponentially”.
He said: “It would be bad enough if it was just a UK story, but we see it’s a French story, a German story and a US story.
“All these countries are slaughtering. There will be a time delay, but it will cost lives. We have a responsibility to protect those lives.”
Bates said it was “hypocritical” to talk about taking action and then reducing government spending in an area where the UK is a global leader.
The UK pledged to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on development in 2015 to align with the UN target. The Conservative government reduced this commitment to 0.5 percent.
When he entered government, Starmer told the G20 summit in Brazil that his administration would prioritize “fighting hunger” and tackle “pain and hunger”.
However, last year Starmer announced that aid spending would be reduced to 0.3% of GDP from 2027, with the aim of increasing defense spending to 2.5% of national income by 2027.
The government’s move comes at a time of major global change in aid spending.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts that total global aid will decrease by 9 percent in 2024 and will decrease between 9 percent and 17 percent in 2025.
Another factor that has reduced the UK’s spending on global humanitarian causes is the decision to use part of the aid budget for refugees already in the UK.
The Home Office expects to spend £2.2bn of overseas development aid on hotel bills alone this financial year.
A government spokesman said: “While we took the difficult decision to reduce our aid budget to allow more to be spent on defense and security, our funding for humanitarian support, including hunger relief, has been relatively protected and we recognize how important food aid is to those in need.
“The UK is the fifth largest donor to WFP, which remains a vital partner.
“In October, the prime minister announced that the UK would provide an additional £20 million to ensure water, sanitation and hygiene services reach tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza. This is in addition to the £74 million we had previously committed.”
