Blair warns aid cuts mean UK is no longer ‘major player in soft power’ around world

Tony Blair has attacked the abolition of Britain's overseas aid department as part of a sweeping critique of Labour's direction in government, warning that the UK has surrendered influence around the world it spent decades building.

In an essay published by his eponymous Tony Blair Institute, the former prime minister argued that the disbanding of the Department for International Development – folded into the Foreign Office under Boris Johnson in 2020 – has left Britain diminished, alongside the cooling of its alliance with Washington and its loss of influence in Europe.

He wrote: "Twenty years ago, we were, beyond doubt, America’s key ally in security and defence, leaders in Europe even though not part of Schengen or the Euro, and, with the Department of International Development (DfID), major players in soft power in the developing world… We’re out of Europe. And DfID is disbanded."

The essay comes as Labour faces pressure over its decision to cut overseas development assistance to 0.3 per cent of national income from 0.5 per cent – redirecting much of the money to defence spending down. That 0.5 per cent was itself down from the 0.7 per cent target Sir Tony's government legislated, which made Britain one of the world's largest bilateral aid donors. The UK cuts have come in the wake of Donald Trump also slashing billions of dollars from the US aid budget since returning to the White House, and essentially closing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Sir Tony warned the party it risked being outflanked at the next election unless it abandoned what he called a "traditional Labour soft left position" and built a foreign policy with the developing world at its centre.

"You will never convince any focus group I have ever come across to support spending on international development – except perhaps one of bishops – but it is important for Britain's strength abroad that we develop deep ties with a developing world which is developing fast,” he wrote.

The impact of aid cuts have been shown in the devastating Ebola outbreak currently spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, with the reduction in funds disrupting disease surveillance networks. Rory Stewart, who served as Africa minister during the last major Ebola outbreak in 2018, previously told the BBC the link between aid cuts and outbreaks like this was "very strong", adding they had "huge impacts, particularly on things like global health."

Sir Tony stopped short of calling for aid spending to be restored, arguing instead that fiscal constraints make reversal impossible. Britain should instead offer developing nations "substantial things." He said: "For soft power, it is impossible for fiscal reasons to wind the clock back. But there are substantial things Britain can offer our developing-world partners: trade and investment with British companies, our financial expertise and globally respected rule of law, our technology, and capacity building for governance."

The aid critique was one thread in a nearly 6,000-word broadside that accused Labour of governing from the party's "comfort zone" without a plan for a world reshaped by artificial intelligence and a fracturing global order. Sir Tony argued the government's core problem was neither Keir Starmer's leadership style nor its communication style, but the absence of a coherent governing project.

The former PM wrote: "We don’t have a worked-out, coherent plan for the country in a fast-changing world and are in the wrong political position from which we can devise one and win a second term."

This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project

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