Boris Johnson faces fresh clash with MPs over cuts to UK aid budget

Tory rebels will try to force Boris Johnson to reverse his £4bn cuts to Britain’s annual aid spending on Tuesday after the UK prime minister agreed to allow a vote in the House of Commons on the controversial decision.

The announcement came as the Treasury admitted that the cuts may not be reversed until early in the next parliament.

The move sets the stage for what could be a historic clash given that many senior Tory MPs — including former prime minister Theresa May — are opposed to the aid reduction.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announced in November that the government would cut aid spending from 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to 0.5 per cent — breaching a promise in the Conservative party’s 2019 manifesto.

Sunak said the previous level of spending could not be justified when the UK had borrowed vast amounts to pay for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic — running up an annual deficit of about £300bn.

On Monday Sunak released a statement saying the Treasury would reverse the decision once the UK no longer needed to borrow to fund day-to-day spending while the underlying measure of public debt was falling.

On current predictions by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog, those tests will not both be met until 2025-26, although the OBR forecasts could change.

Ministers had previously resisted giving MPs a chance to vote on the original plan to cut aid spending. However Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the House of Commons, said on Monday that there would be a vote on Tuesday on whether to restore aid funding to 0.7 per cent of GNI.

“Does this House wish to see the public finances kept under reasonable control . . .? Or, on the other hand, do we want to hard-press our hard-pressed taxpayers even further? That will be the question for the debate tomorrow,” he said.

Andrew Mitchell, former international development secretary, said government whips had been trying to win over Tory rebels over the weekend, including offering them jobs as “the junior minister for paper clips”.

But he hoped a sufficient number of Tory MPs would join forces with Labour to defeat the government and reinstate the 0.7 per cent aid target from next year. He said it was a manifesto pledge which had to be honoured.

Boris Johnson ceded the vote — demanded by Mitchell and MPs across all parties — after accepting that ultimately he would be forced to agree to put the matter to the Commons.

But Johnson’s allies were hopeful of victory, saying that some rebels were already peeling off. “We think it’s important that people on our side have an opportunity to make their views clear,” said one.

Sunak has attempted to hold the line on what the Treasury has described as a “tough choice” given Britain’s tight finances.

Treasury insiders believe the chancellor would not have to reintroduce the 0.7 per cent for up to five years — using its formula published on Monday night — meaning that the savings would accrue every year until the election.

Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said that under OBR predictions the UK would not return to budget balance until 2025-2026.

“Increasing aid spend by 0.2% of GDP in that year would push the UK back into the red unless something else is cut or taxes rise,” he said.