SIR Keir Starmer should hike taxes to fund defence spending instead of slashing aid, furious Labour MPs demanded today.
Left-wing backbenchers are plotting to ambush the PM with calls to cancel the overseas development cut and foist the burden on Britain’s richest.
GettySir Keir Starmer is facing major backlash from backbench MPs over his decision to slash Britain’s overseas aid budget[/caption]
It comes despite new polling by YouGov revealing that two-thirds of Brits are in favour of increasing defence spending at the expense of foreign aid.
In a letter being circulated to MPs, seen by the Sun, politicians insist that a wealth tax is the most popular option for boosting military coffers.
The note, intended to be delivered just as PMQs begins on Wednesday, says: “No government should balance its books on the back of the world’s most marginalised people.
“This is a political decision, not an economic necessity – and sources of financing are available which punish neither British voters nor the world’s poor.”
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The letter, organised by new Labour MP Brian Leishman, adds: “Whilst it might seem like cutting the aid budget is more politically palatable than other cuts, the British public are generous and open minded.
“We feel confident they would rather see money taken from billionaires rather than taken away from children in Sudan.”
Labour MPs fuming at the decision to slash aid are broadly split in two camps.
A group of lefty luvvies who are vocally opposed to the cut are determined for the decision to be u-turned altogether.
A more moderate group of Labour MPs who hate the move, including ministers, have been quietly campaigning against it behind the scenes.
At the very least they want Sir Keir to delay the cut to 2026 so charities can be given time to adjust their plans.
Backlash against the PM ratcheted up last week as Anneliese Dodds resigned as International Development Minister in protest against the aid cut.
While Sir Keir won plaudits on the international stage for his meeting with Donald Trump and support package for Ukraine, at home he faced mounting fury from his own party.
In a bid to cool tensions Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey will meet with disgruntled MPs in the Commons early this week, where they will respond to concerns and beg their party to avoid a public spat.
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