Cutting aid in a pandemic is like closing fire stations during a heatwave

Patrick Watt - image Twitter

Source: Christian Aid

Responding to the announcement that the UK aid budget is to be cut, in spite of the ongoing global pandemic, Christian Aid's Director of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns, Patrick Watt, said: "Cuts have consequences and this decision will pile yet more pressure onto the millions of people worldwide who've been pushed into extreme poverty as a result of the global pandemic.

"Cutting the aid budget during a global pandemic is like closing fire stations during a heatwave.

"These are tough times and the Government has tough decisions to make, but balancing the books on the backs of the poor isn't the way to do it.

"The people of this country have a proud tradition of never turning a blind eye to those in need around the world. As the Government prepares to host world leaders at next year's critical G7 and COP26 climate summits, it now has a moral duty to put inequality and injustice in the world's poorest countries at the heart of its agenda."