Conservative rebels are “cautiously optimistic” about forcing PM to reverse foreign aid cuts | Politics News

Conservative Party MPs hope to force Boris Johnson to reverse cuts to the foreign aid budget in a vote this afternoon.

Thirty Tories, including former Prime Minister Theresa May and four former ministers, are backing a rebellion against the £ 4bn cut.

They will need the support of about 45 Conservatives to defeat the government.

MP Andrew Mitchell, former international development secretary, said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the success of overturning the decision to cut aid from 0.7% of national income to 0.5%.

Aid agencies have warned that the cuts would kill tens of thousands of desperate people who depend on British aid in countries like Syria, Yemen and South Sudan, gripped by a deadly combination of conflict, extreme weather conditions and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the programs that should be phased out are those that provide food aid, clean water and sanitation, education for women and girls, and reproductive health.

Mitchell told Sky News: “There is no doubt that well over 100,000 preventable deaths will occur as a result of these terrible cuts.

“For two decades now, Britain has been a leader in development, not only by putting its money in its mouth, but by drawing others into the right policies to tackle these blatant levels of need and deprivation that are disfiguring our world. .

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“And frankly, entering the G7 conference that Britain is chairing with this record, with all the other G7 countries now or increasing their spending levels… I think it’s a misconception on the part of the government. . “

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