Anneliese Dodds quits as international development minister over aid budget cut

Sir Keir Starmer has said his decision to cut overseas aid to boost defence spending was “a difficult and painful one”, following the resignation of Anneliese Dodds as international development minister.

Ms Dodds said she knew there were no “easy paths” to increase defence spending in her resignation letter to the Prime Minister, but that she disagreed with the decision for aid to “absorb the entire burden”.

The Prime Minister has said the UK would “still be providing significant humanitarian and development support” in a letter thanking Ms Dodds on Friday.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced that defence spending will be increasing to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, with a view to it hitting 3 per cent in the next Parliament.

But to fund it, development assistance aid will be slashed from its current level of 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027.

Anneliese Dodds has quit as International Development Minister | PA

Ms Dodds, who is orginally from Aberdeen and is MP for Oxford East, warned that the move would affect the UK’s support for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine and could lead to the UK being shut out of multilateral bodies.

She posted on X, formerly Twitter: “It is with sadness that I have had to tender my resignation as Minister for International Development and for Women and Equalities.

“While I disagree with the ODA (Overseas Development Assistance) decision, I continue to support the Government and its determination to deliver the change our country needs.”

In his letter to Ms Dodds on Friday afternoon, the Prime Minister said: “The decision I have taken on the impact on ODA was a difficult and painful decision and not one I take lightly. We will do everything we can to return to a world where that is not the case and to rebuild a capability on development.

“However, 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.”

Ms Dodds had said that she had waited to resign until after his trip to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Europe to increase defence spending.

She wrote: “Undoubtedly, the post-war global order has come crashing down.

“I believe that we must increase spending on defence as a result; and know that there are no easy paths to doing so.

“I stood ready to work with you to deliver that increased spending, knowing some might well have had to come from ODA.”

She said she had expected there would also be discussions about reaching the spending target through looking at fiscal rules and taxation.

“Instead, the tactical decision was taken for ODA to absorb the entire burden,” she said.

Ms Dodds said Sir Keir had been clear that he was not “ideologically opposed” to international development.

“But the reality is that this decision is already being portrayed as following in President Trump’s slipstream of cuts to USAID.

“While we differ profoundly on this decision, I remain proud of all that you have achieved since I backed you to be leader of the Labour Party.”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said she was “really sorry to hear Anneliese has resigned”.

She said: “It is a really difficult decision that was made but it was absolutely right that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet endorse the Prime Minister’s actions to spend more money on defence.

“We want to see the economy grow so we can then get back to having more money to spend on things like overseas aid and on our public services.”

Kemi Badenoch said she backed Sir Keir on his decision after Ms Dodds’s resignation.

The Conservative Party leader said in a post on X: “I disagree with the PM on many things but on reducing the foreign aid budget to fund UK defence? He’s absolutely right.

“He may not be able to convince the ministers in his own Cabinet, but on this subject, I will back him.

“National interest always comes first.”

But Tory MP and former foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell said Ms Dodds had done the “right thing”.

The Sutton Coldfield MP said: “Anneliese has done the right thing.

“Labour’s disgraceful and cynical actions demean the Labour Party’s reputation as they balance the books on the backs of the poorest people in the world. Shame on them and kudos to a politician of decency and principle.”

The Liberal Democrats also backed Ms Dodds’s move.

Lib Dem spokeswoman for international development Monica Harding wrote on X: “The Government’s position on the international aid cut is unsustainable.

“Increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent is the right thing to do as the global threats we face intensify.

“But doing so by cutting the international aid budget is like taking off the roof to put up another wall. The Government haven’t even carried out an impact assessment.

“Diplomacy, development and defence are not competing priorities – they are complementary. Where we withdraw our aid, it’s Russia and China who will fill the vacuum.”

The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “Keir Starmer's wreckless plans to slash UK international aid are strategically damaging, immoral and yet another broken Labour Party manifesto pledge.

“MPs must be given a vote for such a drastic and harmful step, which rips up decades of vital work, will plunge some of the world's poorest people further into desperation and may cost lives.”