The Green Party is calling for the UK’s international aid budget to rise to 1% by 2033, as part of its manifesto pledges published this week ahead of July’s general election.

The party said it wanted to “go beyond restoring international aid to 0.7% of gross national income (GNI)” should it be elected.

Four years ago, the Conservative government reduced this proportion to 0.5% and said it had no plans to return it to 0.7% until at least 2028. The Conservative's manifesto says it will only return to this level "when fiscal circumstances allow".

This cut has been criticised by international development charities, including Christian Aid and Save the Children UK.

Last year Christian Aid head of campaigns and UK advocacy Jennifer said cutting international aid “represents a betrayal of the world’s most marginalised people”.

The Green Party manifesto also includes a commitment to give local people a greater say over how aid is spent.

It pledges to “enable the people of the Global South to take the lead on how aid is spent, as those with most at stake know best how to solve their problems”.

“In some cases, this may mean direct support to affected populations rather than working through authoritarian or corrupt governments,” it adds.

International aid body Bond has published guidance calling on charities to “decolonise” their operations to give local people more control over how aid is spent. It said the move would also help tackle racism in the sector.

In launching the manifesto this week, Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay said: “Our proposed significant increase to the overseas aid budget, as well as our policy of supporting lower-income countries to deal with the climate crisis, are vital to ensure people can stay in their home communities.”

Another commitment made in the Green Party’s manifesto is to not only ensure full VAT is charged on private school fees, but that independent schools are stripped of their charitable status. Charging VAT on fees is also a Labour Party commitment.

In addition, the Green Party has pledged to “scrap the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, Public Order Act and other legislation that erodes the right to protest
and to free expression”. This is also a commitment made by the Liberal Democrats in its manifesto.

---