Paul Vallely on the cut to the international aid budget

This week, Ed Thornton talks to Church Times columnist Paul Vallely about the cut to the international aid budget, which he describes in his column this week (11 June) as an “immoral and illegal act”. Paul explains the consequences of the cut for those in the developing world, and examines this week’s efforts in Parliament to reverse it, which culminated in an emergency Commons debate on Tuesday. He also offers his thoughts about the G7 summit, which begins tomorrow in Cornwall. “I am normally quite measured in my writing for the Church Times, but on this subject, if I sound very indignant, it’s because I am,” he says. “I think the Government has behaved particularly outrageously. The idea of taking the bread out of the mouths of starving people is just the real low point of the Boris Johnson Government.” Paul is a Senior Honorary Fellow at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, and a writer, broadcaster, and consultant who specialises in philanthropy, business ethics, and international development. Paul’s latest book, Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg (Bloomsbury) (Books, 11 September 2020), is available to buy from the Church Times Bookshop. Picture credit: Alamy Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.