Liam Fox has questioned the way the overseas aid commitment would be enshrined in law A plan to enshrine in law a promise to spend 0.7% of gross national income on overseas aid has been challenged by Defence Secretary Liam Fox.
In a letter leaked to the Times, Dr Fox said he “cannot support the proposal in its current form”.
A source close to Dr Fox said the issue was not the level of the target, but how best to reflect this in law.
Downing Street said it remained fully committed to implementing its pledge in line with the coalition agreement.
The BBC understands Dr Fox’s letter was written to Prime Minister David Cameron about five weeks ago.
The defence secretary said that “creating a statutory requirement to spend 0.7%” on overseas aid could lead to legal challenges and limit the government’s options on where money was spent.
BBC political correspondent Jo Coburn says this is a sentiment shared by many Conservative backbenchers.
The defence secretary called on Mr Cameron to put the principles, rather than specific commitments, in law following the example set for the military covenant.
Dr Fox wrote: “I have considered the issue carefully, and discussed it with [International Development Secretary] Andrew [Mitchell] and [Foreign Secretary] William Hague, but I cannot support the proposal in its current form.
“In 2009 the proportion of national income spent on ODA [official development assistance] was only 0.52%.
“The bill could limit HMG’s [Her Majesty’s Government] ability to change its mind about the pace at which it reaches the target in order to direct more resources toward other activities or programmes rather than aid.”
The source close to Dr Fox said: “The defence secretary fully supports the principle of a 0.7% target on international aid. The issue is simply how best to reflect this in law.”
The promise to spend 0.7% per national income on aid by 2013 was put in the Conservative manifesto before the last general election and then repeated in the coalition agreement.
Number 10 said it was a commitment that would be honoured.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The aid allocation in the Spending Review shows our commitment to implementing our pledge to spend 0.7% of GNI [gross national income] on official development assistance from 2013.
“We are fully committed to enacting the 0.7% commitment into law, in line with the coalition agreement.”
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