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The British government slashed its foreign aid budget at the “worst moment in history,” an��opposition MP has said, as provisional figures showed UK overseas humanitarian funding was

UK direct to foreign countries was reduced last year to £744 million from £1.53 billion in 2020, a cut of almost 51 percent, according to The Guardian.��

This followed a decision by Boris Johnson’s cabinet to spending at 0.7 percent��of the Gross National Income (GNI), and instead squeeze the already strained budget to 0.5 percent��GNI.��

Sarah Champion MP, Labour chair of the Commons international development committee, said: “It would be hard to consider a worse moment for the government to be cutting its foreign aid budget,” according to a report by the Guardian.��

“We are the only member of the rich country G7 grouping to be doing so. It is having a damaging effect on our international standing - and the survival chances of some of the poorest people on the planet,” said Champion.��

The number of people without enough to eat reached an all-time high last year, according to the

Nearly 193 million people��in 53 countries suffered acute food insecurity in 2021 due to a “toxic triple combination,” of conflict, weather extremes and the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the UN.��

Yet, despite record humanitarian needs, the UK stormed ahead with aid cuts, arguing the unprecedented pandemic precipitated a belt-tightening measure.��

The countries hit hardest by the spending slash included war-torn Yemen, South Sudan and Ethiopia.��

Over 40,000 are without an education as a direct result of the UK aid cuts, according to research by Action for Humanity and Syrian Relief.��

11.6 million children and women lost out on nutrition support, according to ONE Campaign.��

“The UK is cutting aid at a time we have war in Ukraine, the pandemic and millions on the brink of famine. It’s horrific timing and shortsighted because aid helps tackle global challenges, which helps the UK in the long term,” said Oxfam’s head of government relations, Sam Nadel on Twitter.��