Prime Minister Boris Johnson has survived a Tory MPs’ revolt over cutting foreign aid.
The Commons voted by a majority of 35 to back reducing aid from 0.7% to 0.5%.
Mr Johnson told Parliament the country’s public finances were under a “greater strain than ever before in peacetime history”.
He added: “Every pound we spend on aid has to be borrowed and, in fact, represents not our money but money that we’re taking from future generations.”
Andrew Mitchell – former International Development Secretary – said the Government was “trashing our international reputation”.
He added: “It will an enormous impact on our role in the world and above all on the huge number of people who will be very severely damaged, maimed, often blinded and, indeed, die as a result of these cuts”.
