LONDON, Feb 28: UK development minister Anneliese Dodds Friday said she was resigning from the Labour government over cuts to overseas aid ordered by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to boost defence spending.
"Ultimately these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people," Dodds said in a letter posted on X, adding she had hoped for more discussions on how to pay for defence.
Starmer on Tuesday pledged to raise UK defence spending to 2.5 percent of the economy by 2027, but ordered the overseas development budget cut from 0.5 percent of GDP to 0.3 percent to pay for it.