Boris Johnson avoids a Commons vote on foreign aid

Update: Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle has announced that a vote on the aid spending amendment has not been selected. Hoyle says the amendment is out of the scope of the current bill, meaning Boris Johnson will avoid a potentially difficult vote on the issue – for now. Hoyle suggested the government should give MPs an opportunity for a vote at a later date on restoring the foreign aid pledge to 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

As preparations get underway in Downing Street for this week’s G7 summit, trouble is brewing in the House of Commons. The government is facing a potential defeat on a vote it didn’t want to have: the cut to the foreign aid budget. When the Chancellor announced the plan to reduce the aid budget last year, polling suggested it was a popular measure with many Tory voters. However, it was met with resistance from Tory grandees, including several former prime ministers. 

Despite their complaints, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor held firm – with Rishi Sunak justifying the cut on the grounds that it was one of a series of difficult decisions he would have to make in the wake of emergency coronavirus spending.