6 hours ago
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In my lifetime, there has never been a period when the scale of global instability and insecurity – and the impact here in the UK – has been so great. Regional conflict is gripping the Middle East; the Iranian regime is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the strait of Hormuz; and a fresh humanitarian disaster is escalating in Lebanon – all coming alongside the crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.
Britain’s fighter jets are in defensive operations in the Middle East; our carrier strike group has planned deployment to the North Atlantic and Arctic; and as our security services have warned, we are in a constant battle to protect our country, our people, and our economy from state threats and cyber-attacks.
The peace dividend that we briefly enjoyed after the cold war is gone and, like many of our closest allies, we now need to invest more to respond to these new security threats. It is in this context that the government last year took the essential decision to increase our defence spending at the fastest pace since the end of the cold war, and also the hugely difficult decision – again, like many of our allies – to fund this immediate increase through a reduction in the next three years’ spending on overseas aid.
Faced with all this, it would be easy to conclude that international development should be downgraded in UK foreign policy. I believe we need to do the opposite. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives have signalled they would walk away from international development altogether. But for a Labour government it is a fundamental part of our moral purpose to stand up against global disease and hunger, and help those trapped in crises caused by conflict or climate breakdown. We know that supporting development is not just about our party’s values but about our national interests: tackling insecurity and building partnerships abroad helps our security and economy back home.
There will be less UK government development spending over the next few years, but that makes it even more important to invest better, and to reform and reinvigorate our approach so we deliver a more innovative development agenda fit for the modern world.
First, we will be more rigorous about prioritising the countries that have the greatest needs and are facing the worst humanitarian crises. The greatest poverty and suffering is now in fragile and conflict-affected countries. So we will protect and prioritise support for Sudan, Palestine and Ukraine – and this week we took the decision to add Lebanon to that list. We must also try to break the cycle of conflict and poverty that has gripped countries such as Sudan for decades. So we will much more strongly link development to conflict prevention and resolution, and prioritise our education work in conflict zones too.
Second, we will focus on the areas where we have clearest evidence that our investment changes lives – whether that is our continuing partnerships with Gavi, the vaccine alliance, which is saving the lives of millions of children, drawing on the UK’s world-leading scientific expertise, or investing in the essential climate and nature action that will prevent extreme weather from destroying whole communities and economies.
Third, we will drive the innovation required to unlock significant new sources of finance, creating growth and economic development that goes far beyond traditional UK aid. Development budgets alone can never come close to meeting the scale of need or the demand for investment from our partners, so key to our progress will be our climate finance programmes mobilising private funds, our government-owned British International Investment driving growth, and our demands for the international development banks to increase their investment, including in fragile countries, alongside our pursuit of further debt relief.
Fourth, we will change the way we do development, with an approach based on partnership not paternalism. Development minister Jenny Chapman has been leading this shift from donor to investor, and from delivering services ourselves to providing the expertise which helps countries build up their own capacity and deliver for their own communities. As part of that shift, we will lead efforts to reform, modernise and strengthen the multilateral institutions that are so vital for development and tackling global crises and poverty – because we know that working together internationally will always be the best way to multiply the impact of our support.
Finally, we will have the confidence to keep investing in line with our values even when other leading donors disagree. While other countries are withdrawing altogether from services that support women – including tackling sexual violence or supporting women’s health – we believe they are more important than ever. I have made support for women and girls a priority not just for development funding but for the wider work of the Foreign Office. And with the BBC World Service playing an increasingly crucial role as a trusted source of information in conflict zones, crisis situations, and countries run by authoritarian regimes like Iran, we are making sure its funding is increased not cut.
The UK will lead groundbreaking reforms and set out new approaches to development for others to follow. We will show that reducing the size of our development budget does not mean walking away from our values or our responsibilities. Responding to desperate humanitarian crises, preventing conflict and upholding international law are not only a reflection of Britain’s values but Britain’s interests, because in an increasingly interconnected world, we know that instability does not stay abroad.
So, even in this era of new security challenges we will not turn our back on the commitment to justice that burned so strongly under the last Labour government. Because while our world may have changed, our values have not.
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The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper is secretary of state for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
