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Daily Mirror

Politics

Richard Wheeler & Dan Bloom

Boris Johnson hit by Tory revolt over foreign aid cuts that mean 'women will die'

Boris Johnson is facing a major Tory rebellion over his brutal Covid cuts to foreign aid.

The Prime Minister has been warned his policy means "women will die" as Conservative grandees and backbenchers united to force his hand.

Mr Johnson betrayed the Tory manifesto pledge to spend 0.7% of national income on foreign aid, cutting it to 0.5% in November.

The government has claimed the cut was temporary due to Covid - but Tory minister Baroness Sugg quit her role in protest and the move was condemned by figures from Malala Yousafzai to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Tory former chief whip Andrew Mitchell is now leading a push to make up the shortfall as part of an obscure amendment in Parliament.

Scroll down for the full list of MPs.

He has tabled an amendment to the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) Bill, a piece of legislation which establishes a new "high-risk, high-reward" research agency backed with £800 million of taxpayers' cash to explore new ideas.

It would "require Aria to make up any shortfall" in foreign aid from January 2022.

A further 14 Tory backbenchers, including former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and ex-aid minister Sir Desmond Swayne, have backed the amendment so far.

So has foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat, along with former defence minister Tobias Ellwood.

The number could grow given the backlash - and could even threaten the PM's 85-seat working majority.

It will be up to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to decide whether the amendment is selected for consideration when the Bill returns to the Commons on Monday.

The Government has blamed economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic for its aid decision.

It expects just under £10 billion to be allocated to departments for aid spending in 2021/22.

Critics of the policy believe the cut will result in tens of thousands of deaths in other parts of the world.

The Government has also come under fire for not arranging a Commons vote on the decision.

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: "On Monday, just days before world leaders arrive in Cornwall to discuss the global response to the pandemic, the Government faces defeat over its short-sighted and self-defeating decision to slash aid.

"The Conservative Government should do the right thing and reverse this cut."

Conservative former minister Caroline Nokes, one of the amendment signatories, told ITV's Peston: "It's taken quite a lot of manoeuvring to find an opportunity to actually have a vote on this.

"I feel really strongly that we legislated for the 0.7% commitment and the cuts are affecting women and girls.

"I am chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, the cuts of 85% to family planning, the cuts to girls' education - what we know from that is that if girls are not educated they won't be empowered, they won't be empowered if they are pregnant too early.

"Women will die because of these cuts to family planning so I have joined forces with colleagues to make sure we can have a vote on it and I will be voting to keep that 0.7%."

Asked if the amendment would be binding on the Government, Ms Nokes said: "I think it's very unclear at the moment and what we've seen the Government do so far is what I'd describe as cuts by stealth.

"So there hasn't been an opportunity for Parliament to express its view on this with a vote.

"I very much hope it will be binding. I don't want to see the Government try and find a way out of a commitment that we all signed up to just a few short years ago."

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins told Sky News the UK could "hold our head up high in terms of international development".

Ms Atkins said: "The Prime Minister has made clear that this is a temporary measure.

"In 2019, no one could have foreseen the extent of the pandemic and the measures we were going to have to take as a country in order to deal with this; it has had a huge impact on our economy."

And she added: "So we've had to make some very, very difficult decisions."

But she said: "Even with this small temporary reduction, we are still one of the largest donors of aid in the world, spending more than £10 billion on aid.

"And so I do believe we still have a record of which we can very much hold our head up high in terms of international development."