International development minister Anneliese Dodds has quit her post over Keir Starmer’s decision to slash international aid, warning it will be “impossible” to deliver on current spending commitments in Gaza.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dodds said she believes he is right to increase defence spending after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has meant the postwar consensus has “come crashing down.”
But Dodds, also womens minister, wrote to the PM to express concern about Starmer’s promise to maintain aid funding for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, as well as for vaccination, climate and for rules-based systems, while also cutting foreign spending.
He had said it pained him to volster defence spending by cutting the aid budget to help pay for the plan to increase military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – wih an ambition to hit 3% in the next parliament.
“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,” wrote Dodds.
She concluded in her letter: “Ultimately, these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people – deeply harming the UK’s reputation. I know you have been clear that you are not ideologically opposed to international development.”
Dodds has regularly spoken at communal events, including the Jewish Labour Movement’s conference at JW3 earlier this year, and has spoken at Board of Deputies functions.
She has attempted to tred a difficult path of speaking out in support for the Palestinians, while recognising Israel’s right to defend itself.
Although Starmer has pledged to continue with vital humanitarian aid to Gaza, the government is looking closely at an investigation into claims of further UNRWA links to Hamas.
