Keir Starmer pressed not to slash UK contribution to global aid fund

Pressure is mounting on Keir Starmer not to cut the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria after polling found 62% of Britons believe the government should maintain or increase its support.

The prime minister must decide this year whether to maintain the UK contribution at £1bn or implement a cut in line with recent reductions to the aid budget. A cut of 20% has been rumoured.

The dilemma is acute since the UK is co-chairing the fund’s replenishment summit, due to be held on 21 November in South Africa on the margins of the G20 annual summit. It is possible Starmer will not travel to the G20 but instead send his deputy, David Lammy, asking him to take up the prime minister’s duties as he did at the UN general assembly last month.

The UK is also due to chair the G20 in 2027, an event that threatens to show how far the UK has fallen as an aid superpower since the then prime minister Gordon Brown chaired the G20 in 2009.

The new polling was conducted by More in Common for the One Campaign, which said that if the UK matched the £1bn contribution to the fund made by Rishi Sunak three years ago, 1.7 million lives would be saved over the next three years.

There are few aid institutions that are seen as so effective as the Global Fund. Since its formation in 2002, the its vaccines-based strategies have saved 70 million lives. It is seeking to raise $18bn (£13.5bn) at its next replenishment summit in November.

The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, is under Treasury pressure to cut the UK’s contribution to the fund after February’s 40% reduction to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget. An announcement on the three-year UK commitment is likely to come before the budget.

At the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany announced a €1bn (£870m) commitment to the Global Fund, exceeding expectations and adding to the pressure on Starmer.

In the polling, voters were ask to cite two British achievements of the 21st century from a list of 10 possible choices. The Covid vaccine rollout was cited by 35%, hosting the Olympics by 24%, and helping to reduce Aids around the world by 21%, 2% more than those that cited the UK’s role in Ukraine.

Adrian Lovett, UK executive director of The One Campaign, said: “People see the UK’s role in tackling these terrible diseases as one of our most significant achievements of the 21st century. The message is clear: British people want their government to save lives, and protect us from the spread of diseases that do not stop at national borders.”

“With Germany stepping up, all eyes are now on Britain,” he added. “The UK has an opportunity to make a bold statement of its commitment to ending these deadly diseases – or risk hundreds of thousands of lives.”