Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Conservative rebels to force vote on reversing aid cuts

UK RAF plane being loaded with aid supplies

The government is facing a surprise rebellion next week that could force it to reverse its cuts to the foreign aid budget, the BBC has learned.

Rebel Conservative MPs say they have enough support to defeat the government and see aid spending increase in 2022.

The unexpected vote in the Commons will come in the same week the government hosts world leaders at the G7 summit.

A government spokesman said coronavirus had "forced us to take tough but necessary decisions" on spending.

Four former Tory cabinet ministers and chairs of eight powerful Commons committees are among the rebels.

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the government should "do the right thing and reverse this cut".

The MPs have tabled an amendment that would force the government to reinstate the legally-binding target of spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid from next January.

The government reduced the target to just 0.5% this year - a cut of almost £4bn - claiming it was needed to repair the public finances damaged by the pandemic.

The reduction has meant millions of pounds less is being spent on supporting girls' education, reproductive health, clean water, HIV/AIDS, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and Syria, and hundreds of other aid projects.

Charities warned that millions of women and children would not receive food and support and have predicted that more than 100,000 people could die as a result of the government's decision.

The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has described the aid cuts as a "death sentence".

Ambush

The reductions to the overseas development assistance budget were introduced by the government this year without a vote, in part because ministers feared defeat in the Commons.

Critics have been looking for an opportunity to test the opinion of the House and have ambushed the government while Parliament is away on its Whitsun recess.

Conservative Party managers in Parliament - known as whips - will now spend the weekend trying to head off defeat by trying to persuade their MPs not to vote against the government.

Those supporting the rebellion include four former Cabinet ministers - Andrew Mitchell, David Davis, Jeremy Hunt and Karen Bradley - along with the chairmen and women of eight Commons committees - Tom Tugendhat, Tobias Ellwood, Sarah Champion, Neil Parrish, Meg Hillier, Caroline Nokes, as well as Mr Hunt and Ms Bradley.

Other Conservative rebels include Sir Peter Bottomley, the Father of the House of Commons, Sir Desmond Swayne, the former development minister, Anthony Mangnell, a former Foreign Office adviser to William Hague, Sir Edward Leigh, the former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Sir Roger Gale, a former vice chairman of the Conservative Party, and Derek Thomas, the MP for St Ives where the G7 summit is being held next week.

The names of other Conservative MPs supporting the amendment are expected to be released in coming days.

Mr Mitchell - the former International Development Secretary, who is leading the rebellion - said he was confident of finding the 45 or so Conservative rebels needed to defeat the government.

On Wednesday, Mr Mitchell tabled his amendment to the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill.

The measure, which would set up a new agency designed to come up with innovative policy, is due to have its report stage in the House of Commons on Monday.

Mr Mitchell's technical amendment - if selected by the Speaker for debate and then backed by MPs - would re-instate the 0.7% target into law.

It would also oblige the new agency to make up any shortfall in aid spending if the government were to miss the target.

Mr Mitchell said: "Every single member of the House of Commons was elected on a very clear manifesto promise to stand by this commitment.

"I have repeatedly urged the government to obey the law and implored ministers to reconsider breaking this commitment.

"The cuts are now having a devastating impact on the ground and are leading to unnecessary loss of life."

The Tory MP added: "We urge the government to think again, or we shall be asking Parliament to reaffirm the law as it stands so as to oblige the government to meet its legal commitment, keep its very clear pledge to British voters and uphold Britain's promise to the rest of the world."

Responding to the move, a government spokesman said: "In 2021, we will spend more than £10bn to improve global health, fight poverty and tackle climate change.

"While the seismic impact of the pandemic has forced us to take tough but necessary decisions, the government is committed to returning to spending 0.7% of GNI (Gross National Income) on aid when the fiscal situation allows."