Should philanthropists really have to plug the funding gap left by the UKs foreign aid cuts?
It is never a good look for a government when a group of philanthropists feel they have to step in to plug a gap in funding that you have created  but that is exactly what has happened over the issue of the overseas aid budget. A group, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Childrens Investment Fund Foundation and Open Society Foundations, have pledged 93.5m in funding to cover some of the cuts necessary after the governments decision to reduce spending on foreign aid from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.5 per cent. Ministers have said that decision was a result of the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and that funding would be restored at some point. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has previously said the commitment is hard to justify given the UK is facing record borrowing. The group of philanthropic organisations said their own temporary funding would help save critical projects and ensure progress around the globe was not wasted.