The government’s pledge to match money donated to the Ukraine disaster appeal is being funded by taking cash from other parts of the aid budget, ministers have admitted.
Labour accused the government of feigning an “act of generosity” by moving money around and told Rishi Sunak to open his wallet instead of “balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable”.
The government pledged earlier this month to match-fund donations to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s Ukraine humanitarian appeal up to £25 million – amid an outpouring of generosity from the public in light of the Russian invasion.
But it has emerged the extra support promised by the government is part, not in addition to, the £220 million provided to Ukraine and will come out of the existing overseas development budget.
And ministers have now clarified that the money will count towards the government’s commitment to spend just 0.5 per cent of GNI on aid – down from 0.7 per cent – which means cuts are being made elsewhere to fund it.
A coalition of aid charities, warned earlier this month that “it would be ill-judged and morally wrong if our support came at the expense of other marginalised communities affected by extreme poverty, conflict and inequality”.
But in a written statement responding to a question from Labour’s shadow international development secretary Preet Kaur Gill, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office minister James Cleverly said:
“The humanitarian response to Ukraine is a priority for the FCDO and the international community.
“The £25 million matched Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal funding is part of the £220 million allocated for life-saving humanitarian assistance.
“This will come from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget and will be within the 0.5 percent settlement.”
Labour’s Preet Kaur Gill told The Independent: “The public were led to believe the government matching their donations to the Ukraine DEC appeal was new funding and an act of generosity.
“Instead, it turns out Rishi Sunak will take it from the aid budget for existing crises in places like Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
“After two years of aid cuts, this is another low: the government is again balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable. Funds meant for Ukraine should be on top of the 0.5 per cent floor – not instead of it”.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss promised at the start of the month that the UK “will match, pound for pound” donations “from the Great British public, ensuring vital support reaches communities in desperate need of help”.
Simon Starling, director of policy, advocacy and research at aid charity coalition Bond said: “The money we give to Ukraine – and all future crises – should be additional to the already-reduced UK aid budget, not taken from it, until the government meets its 0.7 per cent commitment.
“Otherwise, we risk sabotaging our own efforts to assist people in crisis in countries such as Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Yemen.”
Aid charities are already having to cut programmes across the world thanks to Mr Sunak’s decision to temporarily ditch the 0.7 per cent target for aid, which was previously being met. Mr Sunak’s move caused consternation among many Tory MPs, who were proud of the policy agreed under David Cameron.
It is not clear which projects will lose out as a result of the Treasury’s reticence to spend extra cash, but projects that that have faced cuts due to the lower settlement include programmes covering polio vaccination, girls’ education, and clean water.
