Anneliese Dodds has quit her post as the international development minister over Keir Starmer’s decision to cut the international aid budget to pay for an increase in defence spending.
On Tuesday, the prime minister told MPs that the development budget would be cut from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent to fund the “biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War”. Starmer described the decision as “extremely difficult and painful”.
UK defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 — an increase of £13.4 billlion, the PM told the House of Commons.
The announcement was praised by US president Donald Trump during a meeting with Starmer in the White House on Thursday as a “great thing to do“.
But in her letter of resignation, Dodds warned that Starmer would now find it “impossible” to deliver on commitments to maintain development spending in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine with the reduced budget.
Dodds previously served as shadow chancellor under Starmer, but was replaced by Rachel Reeves in 2021.
Dodds, considered to be on the “soft left” of the Labour Party, will also be standing down from her role as women and equalities minister.
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In a letter published on social media, the Labour MP revealed she delayed the resignation until Starmer returned from his trip to Washington to meet Donald Trump.
She said: “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.
“But the reality is that this decision is already being portrayed as following in President Trump’s slipstream of cuts to USAID.”
She added: “The effect will be far greater than presented, even if assumptions made about reducing asylum costs hold true.
“The cut will also likely lead to a UK pull-out from numerous African, Caribbean and Western Balkan nations at a time when Russia has been aggressively increasing its global presence.
“It will likely lead to withdrawal from regional banks and a reduced commitment to the World Bank; the UK being shut out of numerous multilateral bodies; and a reduced voice for the UK in the G7, G20 and in climate negotiations.
“All this while China is seeking to rewrite global rules, and when the climate crisis is the biggest security threat of them all.”
Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, who served as the international development minister under Rishi Sunak, said Dodds had “done the right thing”.
He posted on X: “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.”
However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch continues to back the prime minister’s decision.
She said: “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.”
Monica Harding, the Liberal Democrat international affairs spokesperson, said: “Anneliese Dodds has done the right thing. 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 robbing Peter to pay Paul. The government hasn’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.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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