Why Development Matters in this General Election
After months of speculation, the General Election is upon us. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Wednesday, the country will head to the polls on the 4th July.
The campaigns are expected to focus on domestic issues, and polling has consistently indicated that immigration, the cost of living, and NHS waiting lists are most important to voters, but over the next six weeks, the crises facing the world at large will continue to unfold and intersect in new and dangerous ways. And surveying the global picture, it is hard to remember a time when the landscape was so threatening and volatile.
The recent withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from villages in Donetsk as a result of dwindling supplies of ammunition brings the consequences of the US’s long-stalled aid package – and the impact of America’s internal politics on matters of European security – into sharp relief. In the Middle East, wider regional conflict remains a serious potentiality following the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the ensuing Israeli invasion and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. And unprecedented flooding in Brazil, which has displaced millions, is just the latest in a series of climate disasters that are ever more frequent.
Amidst all the news that makes it into our media, ongoing challenges remain. This week I have been in Uganda taking policy makers to see the UK supported work of the UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency – and the World Food Programme. Uganda hosts the highest number of refugees in Africa, with approximately 1.7 million people, mostly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
So while the make-up of the next Parliament remains to be seen, one thing is clear: the next Government will have their work cut out for them on the international stage. Their decisions will also be closely watched by a growing number of the British public, who increasingly engage with foreign policy – even if indirectly – having felt the consequences of soaring energy bills following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic and the high inflation that followed. Both serve as two recent examples that will stick in voters’ minds as they head to the ballot box.
Though defence might stand out as the more obvious answer to these problems – British voters broadly believe the UK is currently spending too little on defence – we must remember during this election period that the UK’s aid budget works closely alongside defence and diplomacy to protect our national security. As James Mattis, former US General and Chief of Staff to President Trump told a US Congressional Committee: ‘If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.’ It might not be an obvious talking point on the doorstep, but now and beyond the next six weeks, all who believe the UK is at its best when acting as a leader on the world stage should do all they can to communicate development’s essential role in our foreign policy, and how it works in support of those domestic issues voters care most about.
The implications of this could not be clearer in the context of irregular migration, likely to be a ferocious battleground in this election. Both major parties have pledged to bring down net migration figures and tackle small boat crossings. But there is still a gaping hole in the public debate about the push factors behind migration, and more specifically, how the UK aid budget can help tackle the deep-rooted problems which encourage people to leave their homes in search of personal, and economic, security. The refugees I met in Uganda this week may have been on their way to Europe, were it not for the lifesaving support provided by the agencies the UK taxpayer rightly supports.
Without the prospect of stable and democratic governance, economic opportunities for themselves and their children, and a life free from the threat of climate shocks, people will inevitably leave their homes in search of a safer future. While these push factors vary, overlapping in some cases while remaining singular in others, the domino effect is such that we will continue to see higher numbers of people trying to reach the UK’s shores as long as these slow-burn problems persist.
Here, both parties have an opportunity to acknowledge and vouch for development policy as a long-term solution that goes beyond sticking-plaster politics. Poverty alleviation, conflict prevention, climate adaptation measures, a reduction in trading barriers: these are sensible overseas investments we can make through our aid budget to improve livelihoods and support a generation of young people in search of work, while also serving our own national interest.
And if three in four Britons think climate change is a serious global threat, then it seems that a smart, effective and popular decision would be to ringfence the aid budget, redirect the £4.3bn spent last year inside the UK on hosting refugees and asylum seekers, and commit this money instead to climate mitigation and net zero initiatives in developing countries.
In the context of Africa, these investments also act as an important and necessary alternative to the influence of Russia’s private military companies or the offering of China’s debt trap infrastructure projects, the same states that target our politicians through cyber espionage and hack government departments to obtain the private information of our public servants. Beyond the obvious moral imperative, without them, the scope of the UK’s soft power and potential for future economic partnerships in a continent home to many of the world’s fastest-growing economies will only narrow, as new alliances form and the geopolitical order continues to shift.
Whether or not it is widely recognised as an instrumental tool of our foreign policy, development matters. It matters to voters, because in many cases, it goes some way towards providing solutions to the foreign policy challenges which affect us all, even as other headlines, pledges and debates might dominate the news cycle in the coming weeks. We cannot afford to overlook its role in assuring our security and safety – too much hangs in the balance.
Ryan Henson, Chief Executive of the Coalition for Global Prosperity
