[Politics] Bill Gates criticises Budget cut to overseas aid

[Aronus]

Bill Gates has joined a chorus of international development voices criticising the government cutting billions in overseas aid spending in the Budget.

On Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves chose not to renew a £2.5bn top-up to the UK's overseas aid budget introduced by the Tories to compensate for the huge amount of foreign aid being spent housing refugees and asylum seekers in hotels.

The Treasury announced government departments would spend £13.3bn on overseas development assistance this financial year – meeting its target of spending 0.5% of national income on aid.

Mr Gates, the billionaire co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called the Budget “a disappointing outcome for the world’s most vulnerable people”.

 

Bill Gates criticises UK Budget cut to overseas aid