Conservative MP rebels have launched a major whipping operation in a bid to block a £4bn cut to foreign aid spending after the Government said it would need to pass legislation to make the cuts.
A group of Tory MPs led by Andrew Mitchell, a former chief whip and international development secretary, are lobbying colleagues to vote down the reduction of the target when it is put to a vote in Parliament.
The news comes as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab refused to commit to a “sunset clause” in the legislation which would limit the cut to overseas aid spending to just one-year of cuts.
Mr Raab said that it was right that “every penny of public spending” was scrutinised during an “economic emergency”, furthermore he said the commitment would be reinstated when “the fiscal situation allows.”
A source involved in the Tory rebellion told the Telegraph “the figures are looking increasingly good”, with around 30 conservative MPs suggesting they are prepared to vote with the opposition to defeat the Government.
“I think it’s really doable. There is a potential list of 50 or 60. At least half of them have already indicated that they will do that,” a second source said.
Damian Green, the chairman of the One Nation Conservatives caucus, told The Telegraph: “I know there is very widespread unease about breaking a manifesto commitment on an issue that has been such a sign of how the Conservative Party has changed in recent years to reflect the values of modern Britain.”
The rebel group have also warned that Baroness Sugg, who resigned as a minister on Thursday over the decision to cut the aid budget, would be a “formidable opponent” when the legislation was put to the House of Lords.
Speaking to Sky News, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Is it a difficult decision? Of course it is a difficult decision – no one wants to be having to make these difficult decisions,
“But this is about an economic emergency that I described yesterday and we’re going to have record-level peacetime borrowing and debt.”
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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