LONDON (AP) 鈥 The British minister responsible for international development quit Friday in the wake of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision earlier this week to ramp up defense spending by slashing the foreign aid budget.
In a letter to Starmer, Anneliese Dodds resigned as international development minister and minister for women, saying there were 鈥渘o easy paths鈥 to increasing defense spending but that she disagreed with the decision to cut overseas aid, which she warned would only lead to China and Russia filling the vacuum.
On Tuesday, Starmer said the government would raise U.K. defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027 from the current 2.3%, saying Europe is in a new era of insecurity that requires a 鈥済enerational response.鈥
The increase would be funded by a reduction in the aid budget from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3%, a decision that Starmer, in response to Dodds, described as 鈥渄ifficult and painful.鈥 The cut is worth around 6 billion pounds ($7.6 billion) a year.
In her letter, Dodds said she backed the need for higher defense spending and knew that the aid budget might have to pay for some of that increase. But she said the scale of the cut was so big it will 鈥渞emove food and health care from desperate people鈥 and 鈥渄eeply鈥 harm the U.K.鈥檚 reputation.
鈥淵ou have maintained that you want to continue support for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine; for vaccination; for climate; and for rules-based systems,鈥 said Dodds, who attended meetings of the Cabinet. 鈥淵et it will be impossible to maintain these priorities given the depth of the cut; the effect will be far greater than presented.鈥
The increase in defense spending but has been sharply criticized by aid agencies, who said funding the rise by cutting development assistance harmed some of the world's poorest people while reducing Britain's soft power.
In her letter, Dodds said she held back from resigning earlier this week when the cut to the aid budget was announced as it was 鈥渋mperative" Starmer had 鈥渁 united Cabinet鈥 behind him ahead of his trip to Washington to meet Trump on Thursday.
鈥淚t is for that reason that I am only writing to you now that your meeting with President Trump is over," she added.
Dodds said Starmer was not 鈥渋deologically opposed鈥 to international development, but that the decision to fund the the increase in defense spending by cutting foreign aid is 鈥渁lready being portrayed as following in President Trump鈥檚 slipstream of .鈥
In response, Starmer said he was 鈥減roud鈥 of Britain's long-time reputation as a leading player in development and that he hoped to be able to one day 鈥渞ebuild鈥 the country's capability.
鈥淗owever, protecting our national security must always be the first duty of any government and I will always act in the best interests of the British people.鈥
