Labour’s decision to cut the aid budget to “pay” for increased defence spending is firmly in the latter category.
Labour’s logic is self‑defeating: diverting money from aid to defence does not buy security; it undermines it.
The UK could easily absorb this through borrowing – especially in a global financial system where sterling is heavily traded – or, if the government prefers, through a modest wealth tax.
Labour’s ‘pragmatism’ isn’t neutral – it locks the party into fiscal caution, reinforcing stagnation and fuelling the very instability it seeks to avoid.
Despite government attempts to inflate the amounts involved, the extra £5bn‑£6bn for defence is tiny relative to Britain’s GDP.
