Conflict zones around the world are set to be prioritised with the UK's shrunken foreign aid budget, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Prime Minister said that cutting aid spending by £6billion to fund the defence budget was not a decision he "wanted to take".
Speaking to reporters en route to Washington DC where he is due to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, he said: "It does not mean we're pulling out on the global stage, far from it", pointing out that China is not a large aid donor.
Instead the PM made clear that conflict zones such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan would receive the lion's share of the aid budget as the UK prioritises where the UK's taxpayers' money is needed most.
Conflict zones around the world are set to be prioritised with the UK's shrunken foreign aid budget, Sir Keir Starmer has said
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He added: "We're not pulling away. I've been really clear about Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, because obviously they are conflict zones at the moment.
“We're not pulling out. Obviously we want to restore and increase overseas aid as soon as the economic circumstances allow us to do so.”
It comes after Starmer announced a significant boost to defence spending, raising it to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.
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The funding for this defence increase will come directly from cuts to Britain's aid budget.
The Prime Minister plans to reduce development assistance from its current level of 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent by 2027.
The increase in defence spending represents what the PM described as "the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War".
Starmer acknowledged that this substantial rise will necessitate "extremely difficult and painful choices".
The decision has drawn sharp criticism from aid organisations and charities.
Critics have branded the move as "reckless" and a "betrayal of the world's most vulnerable".
