Johnson Sees Off Tory Rebels Over U.K. Cut to Development Aid

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson saw off a Conservative Party rebellion over cuts to foreign aid, averting a damaging defeat that would have undermined his government’s plans to rein in a peacetime record budget deficit.

Rebels including former Prime Minister Theresa May and former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell had sought to overturn Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s cut to overseas aid spending to 0.5% of gross national income from 0.7%. But they ultimately failed, with the government winning the vote on its policy by 333 to 298 in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

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