Dominic Raab has been accused of offering “pitiful” support to Afghanistan as he suggested aid spending could be increased by 10 per cent — despite millions already being removed from the budget due to government cuts.
The foreign secretary’s remarks came after he claimed no one saw the swift Taliban takeover in the middle eastern country “coming”, as allied forces scrambled to evacuate foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul international airport.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Raab said the UK will “reconfigure” the aid budget in Afghanistan, stressing that “security capacity building money” that has previously been given to the country’s government would not be handed to the insurgents.
“I expect that we will increase our aid budget for development and humanitarian purposes probably by 10 per cent is what I have in mind on last year,” he added.
“We want to try and make sure it won’t go through the Taliban, but make sure we can alleviate humanitarian suffering.”
The cabinet minister’s proposal, however, follows the decision of the government to cut the overseas aid budget — flouting a manifesto promise — from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent of gross national income, amounting to around £4 billion.
In 2019 – the last year full statistics are publicly available for – Afghanistan was one of the top three recipients of aid from the UK government, alongside Pakistan and Ethiopia, with £292 million in assistance provided.
According to a House of Commons Library analysis, seen by the i newspaper, the budget for 2020-21 was £167.5 million, which is yet to be published by the Foreign Office.
However, a government projection for the financial year 2021-22 suggests the total spend in the region stands at £93.8 million — a cut of around 44 per cent on 2020/21 levels of spending.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said in response to Mr Raab’s comments: “It is outrageous that the foreign secretary has come out of hiding to announce this pitiful amount of support.
“This is the same person who cynically slashed aid to vulnerable women and girls in Afghanistan, making life even harder for people in the country.”
“Raab and his heartless government cut aid funding to the bone and now they’re trying to put a sticking plaster over their failures,” she added.
“They should do the honourable thing and immediately recommit pre-aid cut levels to Afghanistan and support those women and girls who need it now more than ever.”
Speaking on the BBC, the foreign secretary also said that it was unlikely the government will “condition” humanitarian relief provided to the Afghan people for the “foreseeable future” due to the ongoing crisis in the region.
Asked whether aid funding could become a point of leverage against the insurgents, the foreign secretary said: “We probably now need a contact group for Afghanistan — we’ll work with our partners to test that idea and see what the right membership will be to have the maximum effect.
“In terms of aid, previously in the past and this won’t be possible with the Taliban at least for the foreseeable future, we’ve had the sort of framework arrangements that pegs what we’re willing to do and to stand as a governance.
“I would expect that to include security, the claiming down on terror groups, but also the way they treat women and the other things we’re trying to achieve.
“That’s in ordinary circumstances — that’s not going to be possible for the foreseeable future, I don’t think we will condition the humanitarian relief we provide to ordinary Afghans.”
