Keir Starmer previously acknowledged that aid 'helps build a more stable world and keeps us safer in the UK'.

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Today, the UK is facing a different global reality, and its position on international aid has evolved.

As the world grows more uncertain, the Government has shown a willingness to wrestle with the difficult questions about how Official Development Assistance (ODA) is delivered. It has not thrown in the towel and has indicated that it will embrace the principle that UK development assistance is more than ODA.

But let’s be clear; despite promises to the contrary, the Government has slashed the UK’s aid budget to 0.3 per cent of GDP, about a 40 per cent cut, since coming into office.

It is clear to me that this is to the detriment of UK soft power. It will have........

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