The UK’s decision to slash aid by 40% is part of a global trend: G7 spending will be 28% lower this year than in 2024. Donald Trump has dismantled USAID; Germany, France and others are chopping their budgets. But Britain’s case is particularly dismaying. A bipartisan consensus saw David Cameron, building on Gordon Brown’s work, make Britain the first G7 country to hit the internationally agreed aid target of 0.7% of gross national income (GNI). Now, under a Labour government, aid will be just 0.3% of GNI next year – the lowest rate for decades. The UK’s cuts are arguably the harshest in the G7.