Boris Johnson today dismissed calls from Tory backbenchers including Theresa May for the government to meet its own promises on international aid as “lefty propaganda”.
Challenged in the House of Commons over the decision to slash aid spending from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent of GDP, Mr Johnson made clear he will defy Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s demand for MPs to be given a binding vote on the issue.
But he suggested that the question had been settled by voters at recent elections – despite the Conservative manifesto for the 2019 general election promising to stick by the 0.7 per cent target enshrined in law by David Cameron.
The PM’s refusal to comply with the Speaker’s demand is likely to trigger new attempts by Tory rebels to force a binding vote onto the parliamentary timetable – or even to press ahead with a challenge in the courts.
Mr Johnson suffered a humiliating assault on his record on aid just days before hosting world leaders at the G7 summit in Cornwall, when Ms May joined a string of senior Tories on Tuesday to demand a reverse in the £4bn cut, which the former PM told parliament would have a “devastating” impact on the world’s poorest and damage Britain’s interests.
He dodged almost certain defeat after a vote was ruled out on technical grounds, but in a stern rebuke Sir Lindsay insisted he must show the House of Commons “due respect” by giving MPs a chance to pass judgement on the cut.
And the Speaker warned that if the PM resisted, he would look sympathetically on any attempt to force a vote, telling MPs: “I do not want it to drag on. If not, we will then look to find other ways in which we can move forward.”
At prime minister’s questions in the Commons, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the cut would leave Mr Johnson isolated at the G7, among leaders including Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel who are maintaining or increasing aid spending during the pandemic.
“The prime minister will walk into the G7 summit as the only leader cutting development aid to the world’s poorest,” said Mr Blackford. “At the very moment when global leadership is needed more than ever, this Tory government is walking away from millions still struggling from the Covid pandemic and a poverty pandemic.
“The prime minister has been hiding on this issue for months. This is a government on the run from their own moral and legal responsibilities, and on the run from their own backbenchers.
“But the Prime Minister can’t hide from this issue any longer. And he can’t run from democracy in this House. Will he stand up today and commit to a straight vote in this House on his inhumane cuts, as demanded by the speaker?”
Mr Johnson responded: “The people of this country were given a vote on this and many other matters very recently, and I think they adjudicated very firmly in favour of the balance the government is striking.”
The PM said that despite the cut, the government was still spending £10bn a year on aid, which he said was more than under Labour leaders like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who he accused of spending taxpayers’ cash on “Brazilian dancers in Hackney to raise consciousness of global poverty”.
“We are in very difficult financial times, but you shouldn’t shouldn’t believe the lefty propaganda that you hear,” he said. “All they want to do is run this country down.”
Mr Blackford retorted: “I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the previous prime minister (Ms May) being called a lefty propagandist.
“The simple fact of the matter is that every single party, every single member of this House, stood on a manifesto commitment to 0.7 per cent.
“The prime minister has reneged on that, and the Speaker has indicated that the government should allow a vote.
“Why can’t the prime minister get this? In a pandemic, no-one is safe until everyone is safe. Now is the time to support each other, not to walk away from those in need. People are dying, and they need our help.
“The prime minister has the nerve to brag about the government’s support for the vulnerable, when at the very same time he is slashing £4.5 billion from the world’s poorest.
“In the week of the G7, what kind of world leader washes his hands of responsibility by cutting water and hygiene projects by more than 80 per cent in the middle of a pandemic?”
