Key facts
- Development Minister Kirsty McNeill aims to maximize the effectiveness of UK aid spending.
- Labour's manifesto pledge to return aid spending to 0.7% of national income was reaffirmed.
- The government will provide up to £15 million for preventive action against El Niño.
- McNeill will focus on "five securities": health, climate, food, human, and economic security.
- The minister emphasized the life-saving impact of aid, such as through immunisation and feeding children.
Kirsty McNeill, the UK's development minister, has declared her commitment to maximizing the impact of British aid, vowing to "sweat the asset" to ensure the best use of current resources. She reaffirmed Labour's manifesto pledge to return aid spending to 0.7% of national income, stating this would be pursued "when fiscal circumstances allow."
McNeill, who previously advised Gordon Brown and held a senior role at Save the Children, argued forcefully for the benefits of aid, particularly its capacity to save and improve lives. She plans to announce that the government is making up to £15 million available through its humanitarian crisis fund to support preventive actions in countries most vulnerable to El Niño, a climate phenomenon the UN warns could be the most severe in 1,000 years.
The 0.7% aid target, a cross-party consensus adopted under the Blair government, was previously set aside by Rishi Sunak during the Covid-19 pandemic. Charities have expressed concern that recent cuts, reducing aid spending to 0.3% of national income, have significantly impacted support for developing countries. McNeill suggested that public concern about aid is more focused on value for money and effectiveness rather than the principle of providing assistance.
She outlined her role as focusing on "five securities" – health, climate, food, human, and economic security – aiming to frame development as a means of achieving global cooperation and security through solidarity. This approach involves reforming international bodies that disburse UK aid and forming bespoke partnerships. McNeill contrasted this with the "diplomatic grind" needed to maximize outcomes from relationships, referencing the debt relief secured during the UK's 2005 G8 presidency.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has indicated that development and climate change will be central to British policy, a focus McNeill welcomed.