Jeremy Hunt: Very sad if UK cuts overseas aid
The former UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he would be very sad with any decision by the government to cut overseas aid and would find it "very difficult" to vote for such a cut.
Speaking on Tuesday he told Hardtalk's Stephen Sackur: "Yes, this has been a very tough year for the United Kingdom but the World Bank say that this year between 100 and 150 million more people will go into extreme poverty, that is a daily income of less than $1.90 (拢1.42) a day.
"And I don't think we should ask the world's poorest to pay the price for some of these challenges we do admittedly face at home."
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the overseas aid budget would be cut from 0.7% of national income to 0.5%, during the Spending Review on Wednesday.
Mr Sunak has said the cut would be temporary and the 0.7% target would be restored when finances allowed.
