Aid cuts ‘a false economy’

Responding to government cuts to overseas aid, Green MP Dr Ellie Chowns MP said:

“Cutting international aid is a false economy – and one which puts Britain’s security at greater risk.

“The UK’s defence does not exist in isolation from global security. You cannot make Britain safer by making the rest of the world more unstable. We have all witnessed in recent years the extent to which threats that begin abroad can destabilise us at home – not just with the latest developments in the Middle East, but also the international public health threat of the Covid pandemic, or the danger to global democracy posed by Russia’s cyberwarfare.

“I spent years working in international development. I lived in an active conflict zone. I saw, first-hand, how extreme poverty, political instability, and lack of opportunity create the conditions for violence and war. Children pay the price that for that. Entire communities and regions pay the price. And so does the UK, in the end.

“If the government is serious about keeping Britain safe, they need to think about security beyond bombs and battalions. Real security means tackling global threats – hunger, violence, disease, displacement, inequality, climate chaos – early, before they explode into crises that reverberate that much more strongly onto our own shores.

“This is the time for Britain to strengthen its role as a global leader in development, diplomacy, and peacebuilding – not walking away from the very work that helps prevent conflicts and build a safer world for us all. The government must change course.”