Biggest slump in 300 years: Finance Minister swears the British to the crisis

The corona pandemic has hit Great Britain hard. The kingdom is now facing the deepest economic crisis in three centuries. The finance minister is pulling the emergency brake and cutting spending on development aid. He owes that to millions of unemployed people on the island.

According to government forecasts, this year the UK will experience the largest annual economic slump in over three centuries. The economic decline in 2020 will be 11.3 percent, said Finance Minister Rishi Sunak during a parliamentary session. "Our health emergency is not over yet and our economic emergency has only just begun," he added. Official forecasts predict an increase in unemployment in Great Britain to 7.5 percent in the second quarter of 2020 – that would correspond to around 2.6 million unemployed.

When presenting his budget for 2021, the finance minister announced that it would cut aid to developing countries. In times of record indebtedness and rising unemployment, it is difficult "to justify higher spending to the British," he said. Instead of the previous share of 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI), which is anchored in law, Great Britain will only spend 0.5 percent on aid. Last year, Great Britain had spent the equivalent of almost 17 billion euros on development aid.

Sunak predicted a recovery of the British economy of 5.5 percent only in the coming year, as well as a growth of 6.6 percent in the year 2022. Accordingly, the British economy will return to the pre-crisis level in 2022 at the earliest. "Our first priority now is to protect human life and livelihoods," Sunak said.

"Moral mistake": five ex-prime ministers are outraged

Five former prime ministers of the country and numerous aid organizations protested against the cut in international aid. David Cameron spoke of a "moral, strategic and political error". According to critics, the proposed cuts would affect millions of people around the world and make access to education and health care difficult or impossible. A State Secretary for the State Department, Liz Sugg, resigned in protest after the announcement. Sunak said it was the government's "intention" to return to higher aid when the budget allowed again.

Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the largest investment program for the British military since the end of the Cold War. The equivalent of 18.5 billion euros should therefore be invested in the defense of the country. At the same time, Johnson announced that it would lift the strict measures in place in England to contain the coronavirus in early December. "The escape route is in sight," he told parliament earlier this week.