UK should reverse aid cuts ‘as soon as possible’, says former Australian PM Julia Gillard

UK should reverse aid cuts ‘as soon as possible’, says former Australian PM Julia Gillard

The UK should reverse its aid cuts "as soon as possible", according to girls' education advocate and former Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard. Speaking after a visit to a school in the north-east of England with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday, Julia Gillard, now chair of the board at the Global Partnership for Education, said it was a "pivotal time" for girls' education and she hoped the UK would continue to support initiatives around the globe. "It's my hope that the UK can return to 0.7 per cent [of gross national income as an aid spending commitment] as quickly as possible," she told The Telegraph. "The UK has a loud and expert voice in the world of aid and development in part because of the bipartisan support for the 0.7 per cent target, but also because of the UK's expertise in policy and how to make sure programmes work and work well." The decision to cut UK aid spending from 0.7 per cent of GNI to 0.5 per cent – or around £5 billion in real terms – has sparked such outrage in development circles and among MPs that the government has pledged to reverse it when the economic