1 hour ago UK foreign aid: How much is spent and who receives it as Starmer slashes budget

UK foreign aid will be slashed from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of GDP to fund an increase in defence spending

Economics

3 h. ago Judge gives Trump administration two days to unfreeze funds for US foreign aid

A federal judge has given the Trump administration less than two days to release billions of dollars in blocked funding for U.S. foreign aid

Politics

3 h. ago Keir Starmer bows to Trump pressure and increases UK defence spending by slashing foreign aid

PM brands Russia a ‘menace in our waters’ and says UK must stand by Ukraine to achieve lasting peace to avoid threats to economic instability

Politics

3 h. ago This is a hard choice. We believe in foreign aid – but we have to make cuts. We must keep the UK safe | David Lammy

Putin’s Russia is a threat to all Europe, including the UK. Vital aid work will be hit as we spend more on defence, but we must deal with the world as it isThere are moments in history when everything turns, but the extent of change is not perceived until later when the fog has cleared. These are hinge points that require clear leadership and bold action. In the late 1940s, my Labour predecessor and hero Ernie Bevin, alongside Clement Attlee, saw through the fog when they led Britain into Nato and the UN, and secured the development of Britain’s nuclear deterrent. In the 1960s, Harold Wilson saw through the paranoia of the cold war, refusing Lyndon Johnson’s request to send British troops to Vietnam. In the 1990s, Tony Blair understood that unless we stopped the president of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, there would be no peace in the Balkans.Three years into Vladimir Putin’s brutal war, this is again a hinge point for Britain. Keir Starmer’s commitment to dramatically raise defence s...

Politics

3 h. ago Watch: Starmer defends cutting foreign aid budget to boost defence spending

Watch as Sir Keir Starmer holds a press conference on Tuesday, 25 February, after announcing he will slash the foreign aid budget to hike defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP to counter “tyrants” like Vladimir Putin.

Economics

3 h. ago Keir Starmer says 'dangerous new era' forced decision for 'biggest rise' in defence spending since Cold War

The Prime Minister said ‘extremely difficult and painful choices’ would be needed to reach the spending goal, including a cut to foreign aid

Events

3 h. ago Starmer slams accusation he is ‘Farage in disguise’ over defence spending increase

Sir Keir Starmer dismissed an accusation he is "Nigel Farage in disguise" over his plans to slash the foreign aid budget to hike defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP to counter “tyrants” like Vladimir Putin.

Politics

4 h. ago Keir Starmer addresses nation after slashing aid budget to fund 'biggest sustained rise' in defence spending since Cold War

The Prime Minister said ‘extremely difficult and painful choices’ would be needed to reach the spending goal, including the cut to foreign aid

Economics

4 h. ago Watch live: Starmer defends cutting foreign aid budget to boost defence spending

Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer holds a press conference on Tuesday, 25 February, after announcing he will slash the foreign aid budget to hike defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP to counter “tyrants” like Vladimir Putin.

Economics

4 h. ago What is Keir Starmer’s plan to increase UK defence spending and is it affordable?

Keir Starmer has outlined plans to slash foreign aid in order to hike Britain’s defence spending, The Independent looks at what has been said about the move

Politics

8 h. ago Watch: Keir Starmer fast tracks defence spending boost by cutting foreign aid

Watch as Sir Keir Starmer announced a fast track on the government’s defence spending boost by cutting foreign aid.

Politics

8 h. ago Starmer hikes defence spending to 2.5% ahead of crunch meeting with Trump

Labour PM cuts foreign aid funding as he prepares to fly to Washington to meet the US President who has piled pressure on Britain to bolster its armed forces

Politics

8 h. ago Keir Starmer slashes aid budget to fund 'biggest sustained rise' in defence spending since Cold War

The Prime Minister said ‘extremely difficult and painful choices’ would be needed to reach the spending goal, including the cut to foreign aid

Economics

32 h. ago US politics live: confusion at agencies over whether to comply with Elon Musk email demanding workers justify jobs

Government agencies give conflicting orders after Musk demands employees list accomplishments from past week by Monday deadlineDonald Trump’s sweeping foreign aid freeze has stalled a United Nations programme in Mexico aimed at stopping imported fentanyl chemicals from reaching the country’s drug cartels, according to eight people familiar with the situation, Reuters reports.It is one of several US counternarcotics efforts in Mexico derailed in recent weeks by the stop-work order. Continue reading...

Politics

35 h. ago Donald Trump's foreign aid clampdown could force controversial LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall to 'cut half of its staff'

The controversial LGBTQ+ lobbying group was told on Thursday that only roles with dedicated funding would remain following a 'restructuring' of the charity.

Politics

35 h. ago LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall to 'cut half of staff' after Trump freezes foreign aid

The controversial LGBTQ+ lobbying group was told on Thursday that only roles with dedicated funding would remain following a 'restructuring' of the charity.

Politics

45 h. ago Zelensky's shock reaction to Trump team saying he's hours away from signing huge mineral deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has balked at the suggestion any minerals deal with the United States would be backpay for foreign aid his nation has received during the war.

Politics

47 h. ago ‘We have nothing now’: Myanmar’s exiled media face existential crisis after Trump severs aid

Organisations that take extreme risks to document atrocities, corruption and war crimes fear for their future after USAid cutsEach month Su Myat secretly crosses the border from Thailand into Myanmar to report on her conflict-ridden homeland, covering military airstrikes and illegal scam compounds that have become a haven for organised, transnational crime.The editor of the online news outlet ThanLwinKhet News, Su is part of a community of exiled journalists from Myanmar whose organisations are facing an existential crisis due to US president Donald Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid. Continue reading...

Politics

69 h. ago Kemi Badenoch urges Prime Minister to cut foreign aid and pour money into defence

The Tory leader wrote in a letter that 'this is no time for dither', arguing: 'History has been unforgiving to politicians who, faced with growing threats, chose procrastination over action.'

Politics

3 d. ago Federal judge blasts Trump administration for dodging order to resume USAID funding after freeze

Department of Justice continues to drag its feet on court orders

Politics