ONE of Worcestershire's MPs is supporting an amendment to the government's controversial cuts to foreign aid.

West Worcestershire's Harriett Baldwin is due to vote in favour of the amendment, which seeks to stop the government cutting its 0.7 per cent to 0.5.

It is not currently known if the amendment will be voted on, but Mrs Baldwin said she hoped the government will reverse its decision.

She said: "I’ve seen at first hand the crucial work that UK Aid supports around the world during my time as a Foreign Office Minister and, like each Conservative MP, I was re-elected in 2019 on a pledge to maintain the 0.7 per cent international aid spending commitment as the law of the land.

"Of course the aid budget drops when the economy shrinks, but we should not create a double whammy for the world’s poorest by cutting further to 0.5 per cent and we certainly should not allow the Government to do it without a vote in Parliament.

"If we want to donate our surplus vaccine and open up our borders in the future, we need to be providing more aid.

"Our reduction in UK Aid is already costing lives and I hope that, as the G7 gathering gets underway, the aid budget commitment is restored and we can continue our leadership on the world stage."

Dozens of senior Conservatives have warned they are prepared to revolt over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to cut the UK’s aid spending. The government said it hopes to save around £4bn should the cut go through.

1,700 charities, academics and business leaders have jointly written to the Prime Minister to warn that the UK’s “credibility and voice on the international stage will be undermined” if the cut goes ahead.

50 per cent of the foreign aid goes to Africa, with 32 per cent going to countries in the Indo-Pacific and in South Asia. Both areas were identified as priorities by a government review.