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Tory rebellion grows over Boris Johnson’s ‘grotesque’ foreign aid cuts

Source tells openDemocracy government could be set to reverse foreign aid cuts amid threat of Commons defeat as Theresa May joins rebels

By Peter Geoghegan
Tory rebellion grows over Boris Johnson’s ‘grotesque’ foreign aid cuts
Boris Johnson faces being defeated on planned foreign aid cuts, as a Tory rebellion grows | ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
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Boris Johnson faces being defeated by a Conservative Party rebellion with 30 Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, having signed an amendment to reverse savage cuts to Britain’s international aid budget.

The number of rebels doubled overnight with May joining one-time ministers Stephen Crabb and Johnny Mercer in adding her name to a rebel Tory amendment aiming to restore British foreign aid spending to 0.7% of national income.

On Wednesday, 15 Conservative MPs, including the chairs of the defence and foreign affairs select committees, Tobias Ellwood and Tom Tugendhat, backed an amendment to increase foreign aid spending from the current rate of 0.5% announced by foreign secretary Dominic Raab last year.

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