British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to reduce UK aid from 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) to 0.3% is indefensible and will cost lives, Burma Campaign UK said today.
Aid cuts from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5% by the former Conservative government contributed to a 73% cut in aid to Burma and to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in recent years. A small increase in aid to Burma by the new Labour government had led to hopes that UK aid to Burma would be restored and then increased to help respond to the growing humanitarian crisis in the country. An estimated £6 billion a-year cut in UK international aid has dashed these hopes.
Keir Starmer’s savage cuts in international assistance break the UK’s international legal obligation to spend 0.7% of GNI on international aid.
The increased cuts in UK aid come on top of a US freeze in international aid and dismantling of USAID, and huge cuts in the aid budgets of Germany and other countries.
“The Burmese military are already gloating about the cuts in US assistance to people fleeing their bombs and their bullets, now Keir Starmer is giving them something else to celebrate,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The UK should be stepping up and providing more assistance, not stepping back.”
The UK and other countries massively reducing international assistance are abandoning people in countries like Burma who are paying a heavy humanitarian price while struggling for human rights and democracy. They are potential future allies in defending the international rules-based order. US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leaving the field clear for authoritarian regimes in China and Russia to expand their sphere of influence.
“It is a sad irony that cuts in international aid to fund increasing defence spending will actually create space for and embolden the same regimes that threaten our security,” said Anna Roberts. “This is a short-sighted and panicked response and it is the poorest people in the world who will pay the price.”
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