Labour MPs and former ministers are pressing Andy Burnham to re-establish the UK’s former aid spending commitment, arguing that a future Labour government should set out a path back to spending 0.7% of national income on development. The call appears in a forthcoming collection of essays produced by the New Economics Foundation, which brings together MPs and policy experts to sketch possible priorities for a Burnham-led administration.
Among those contributing is Fleur Anderson, a former development minister, who says Burnham should pledge a 10-year route back to the target first legislated under Gordon Brown. She argues that the point is not rigid yearly targets, but a credible long-term plan that governments, aid agencies and partner organisations can plan around. The 0.7% benchmark was abandoned in 2020 by Rishi Sunak as a temporary pandemic-era measure, and Keir Starmer later opted for further cuts to aid spending, redirecting funds toward defence. That decision led to the resignation of development minister Anneliese Dodds.
Anderson says reducing development commitments is ultimately counterproductive, warning that greater global instability will not be solved by wealthy countries stepping back from the conditions that fuel it. The pamphlet also includes proposals on wider international economic policy, including a call from Liam Byrne for the UK to use its G20 chairmanship in 2027 to advance discussion of a global wealth tax. Another former Labour minister, Gareth Thomas, says the UK could use its G20 and subsequent G7 presidencies to begin work on what should replace the UN sustainable development goals when they expire in 2030.
Source: theguardian.com
