CGP Response to UK Aid Allocations - March 2026

“Britain faces the most dangerous geopolitical moment in decades. To come through it, we must use the full weight of our foreign policy. Defence, development, diplomacy and soft power must be deployed decisively and in concert with one another. With the UK Government today setting out significant reductions in our aid allocations, it is vital we recognise that development is not peripheral but central to our strategic posture. Cutting aid may ease immediate financial pressures, but only at the expense of our long-term national security.

Our adversaries understand this and are expanding their global influence, reshaping alignments, and reducing the costs of their aggression and belligerence. Leaving the arena open to Moscow and Beijing by inadequately funding our foreign policy is an act of profound strategic self-harm. 

We must rebuild our hard power while revitalising soft power. Our security depends on both. Defence spending must rise urgently and significantly. But in an era where conflict extends beyond battlefields, neglecting our development and soft power arsenal will leave us dangerously exposed.”