Minister Anneliese Dodds resigns over Starmer move to cut foreign aid budget

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy International development minister Anneliese Dodds has dramatically resigned from the government over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to slash the UK’s foreign aid budget. The minister, who attended cabinet, warned the move would bolster Russia, despite the prime minister’s claims the cash would be used to hike defence spending and hit back at “tyrants” like Putin. open image in gallery Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds In her letter to the prime minister, reported by the Guardian, she wrote that it would now be “impossible” for the PM to stick to his commitments. "Yet it will be impossible to maintain these priorities given the depth of the cut; the effect will be far greater than presented, even if assumptions made about reducing asylum costs hold true.” She said the swingeing cuts would “likely lead to a UK pullout from numerous African, Caribbean and western Balkan nations at a time when Russia has been aggressively increasing its global presence.” “All this while China is seeking to rewrite global rules, and when the climate crisis is the biggest security threat of them all.” The move would damage Britain’s international standing, she warned: "Ultimately, these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people - deeply harming the UK's reputation.” She said she knew there were no "easy paths" to increase defence spending, but that she disagreed with the decision to cut overseas development aid to 0.3% of GNI.