Kemi Badenoch Proposes 90% Cut to UK Overseas Aid
Kemi Badenoch announced plans to reduce the UK overseas aid budget from £9bn to £1bn to fund 50,000 new prison places.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch announced at the party conference in Birmingham that she would reduce the United Kingdom's annual overseas aid budget by 90% if she becomes prime minister. The proposal would cut spending from £9bn to £1bn, with the savings—alongside a £1bn reduction in the culture budget—intended to part-fund 50,000 new prison places in England and Wales.
Development organizations and charities warn the cuts would leave the UK unable to meet more than £1.6bn in existing annual financial commitments to the World Bank and the United Nations. Gideon Rabinowitz of Bond stated the decision would "irreparably damage" the country's global credibility and leave the UK isolated.
Political critics have characterized the move as a strategic attempt to attract Reform UK voters. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Monica Harding argued that the policy prioritizes short-term political gains over the long-term international interests and moral obligations of the country.
