Four in 10 voters oppose moves to restore the foreign aid budget – and would rather the money was spent on the NHS and strengthening Britain’s borders, a poll for The i Paper has revealed.
The survey, by BMG Research, found that nearly half of Britons do not want Andy Burnham and his Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to return the aid budget to 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI), after it was cut to 0.5 per cent under the previous Tory government.
Nearly a quarter of voters would prefer to see money saved from the cuts spent on the NHS, while one in six would rather it was invested in stopping on small boats.
Voters would also prefer the Prime Minister prioritise supporting struggling households with the cost of living and boosting the UK’s defence budget.
Under the current timetable set by Burnham’s predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, the foreign aid budget will fall even further to 0.3 per cent in 2027 in a bid to boost defence spending.
If this further cut goes ahead, it would mean the UK’s humanitarian funds to some African countries would have to be cut by up to 90 per cent by 2029, according to a report by UK charity umbrella group Bond.
It comes after The i Paper revealed that ministers have privately indicated that they support finding a route back to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on international aid, but there is no timeline for how such a spending commitment can be met.
Both Burnham and Miliband have publicly supported the 0.7 per cent target in the past, with Burnham explicitly defending it during the 2010 Labour leadership contest and Miliband backing the commitment as Labour leader.
A full return to the 0.7 per cent target rather than the planned 0.3 per cent level would cost around £13bn a year on current economic projections – a figure recognised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
In a new poll commissioned by The i Paper, 40 per cent of the public said they would oppose a return to the 0.7 per cent target while just 25 per cent supported the move.
Voters want Burnham to focus on the NHS and small boats
Nearly a quarter of those who oppose the uplift would rather see the money spent on the NHS, at 22 per cent, while 16 per cent would prefer spending on border control and immigration.
These are key issues for voters, with NHS facing severe funding pressures driven by rising operational costs and inflation, as well as chronic staff shortages and treatment delays.
The public is also keen to see the PM crack down on small boats, with a recent surge of seven vessels carrying nearly 500 people last week – despite overall arrivals down 43 per cent this year compared to the same point in 2025.
They survey also shows that 14 per cent of respondents would prefer the money to be spent on support with the cost of living, while 13 per cent said they would rather the PM prioritises defence and national security.
It found that views varied widely by political party, with 62 per cent of Reform voters and 51 per cent of Conservatives opposing the restoration of the foreign aid budget, compared with 36 per cent of Lib Dems, 20 per cent of Labour supporters and 22 per cent of Green voters.
Labour opposed cuts to the foreign aid budget under the Conservative government and ahead of the the 2024 election, promising to restore it to 0.7 per cent when circumstances permitted.
But after becoming prime minister, Starmer went further in the opposite direction, announcing in February last year that aid would be cut from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of GNI by 2027, using the savings to increase defence spending.
A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: “There has been no new commitment on aid spending. The government’s position remains exactly as set out previously: we are committed to returning development spending to 0.7 per cent of GNI when fiscal circumstances allow.”
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