presenter skewered Defence Secretary John Healey on plans to increase but take away from foreign aid – branding the move “incredibly disappointing”.
The MP appeared live via video link at Wellington Barracks, where he was confronted by Sally.
She said: “You also committed to development spending at a level of 0.7% of gross national income as soon as fiscal circumstances allow. That was a promise you made before the election – you’ve dropped that now to 0.3% because of the defence spending.
“Can you understand how many people will be incredibly disappointed – including people within your own party, your own government – will be incredibly disappointed by that decision?”
Healey responded: “I can because Labour has a very proud history in government of leading the world in writing the debt of the most impoverished countries off completely, of raising levels of overseas aid, of setting new development goals that the rest of the world follows, so I understand that disappointment.
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Defence Secretary John Healey was grilled on BBC Breakfast (Image: BBC)
“But to be clear, national security must come first. This is a period in which the importance of strengthening our ability to be ready to fight, able to deter, to reduce the risk of the conflicts we don’t want to see because of the costs that they impose – in particular on some of the poorest countries.”
Sally Nugent was ‘disappointed’ with the cuts (Image: BBC)
He added: “The importance of hard power rather than soft power in this changed world at this time makes this a very difficult decision, but as the said yesterday in the House of Commons, it makes it a necessary decision that as a government committed to making sure we can make Britain more secure and stronger in the world, play our part in the alliances that keep us all safe, we will do that.”
Defence spending is set to increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, from the current rate of 2.3%. It eans £13.4billion more will be spent annually on defence after that year.