It’s groundhog day in the House of Commons today. Another Health Secretary, another Covid announcement and now another scheduled vote on the government’s decision to abandon the Tory commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on international aid.
The Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs this afternoon that there will tomorrow be a three hour debate and a binding vote on a motion about the Treasury’s restrictions on the international aid budget. If the motion is rejected, the previous 0.7 per cent commitment on international aid will be reinstated from January 2022.
It comes after last month’s shenanigans in which the Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle thwarted an attempt by rebel Tory MPs to reverse the cuts via a parliamentary amendment to the government’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill. Hoyle ruled the amendment out of scope but said the government must bring a vote on the issue – something Boris Johnson was reportedly
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