# ‘Sweat the asset’: new development minister plots path to make UK aid count

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/sweat-the-asset-new-development-minister-plots-path-to-make-uk-aid-count/
- Published: 2026-09-13T21:30:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-13T22:18:50+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/13/sweat-the-asset-new-development-minister-plots-path-to-make-uk-aid-count
- Topics: Business, Economy, Elections, Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- Minister reaffirms 0.7% aid target but gives no timetable
- £15m pledged to help countries prepare for severe El Niño
- Minister vows to improve aid's value for money, not just spend more

## Summary

The UK's development minister, Kirsty McNeill, has reaffirmed Labour's manifesto commitment to eventually restore aid spending to 0.7% of national income, while stressing there is no timetable and the increase depends on fiscal conditions allowing it. Her remarks matter because they come after the government cut aid spending to 0.3% of national income, drawing criticism from charities over reduced support to poorer countries, and after her predecessor Jenny Chapman took over the role following Anneliese Dodds' resignation in protest at the scale of the cuts.

Speaking ahead of a Monday address to charities and campaigners at the New Economics Foundation, McNeill said she would announce up to £15m from the humanitarian crisis fund to help countries most at risk from El Niño, which the UN warns could be the most severe in 1,000 years, funding measures such as vaccinating livestock and giving farmers cash for supplies. She argued Labour should make a confident, direct case for aid's ability to save lives rather than hedging, while acknowledging voters' concerns centre on value for money, pledging to "sweat the asset" and focus the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on what she called "five securities" — health, climate, food, human and economic security — alongside reforming international bodies and building new "bespoke partnerships".

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.