Boris Johnson has announced a U-turn on aid to Afghanistan, pledging that the UK will now “double” its spending on the war-torn country. The government came under fire for its aid policy to Afghanistan after it emerged that direct aid to Afghanistan was due to fall to £37.5m for 2021/2022 - at the same time as scaling back military assistance. Raab then said the government would look to increase aid to Afghanistan by 10% - a figure mocked as “pitiful” in light of the 78% cut. Figures from the House of Commons library shows that the most recent increase to £286m in fact is shy of what the UK £292m in aid the UK gave to Afghanistan in 2019. At the Afghanistan conference held in Geneva in November 2020, the UK government pledged £155m in aid for 2021.

Source: Huffington Post August 18, 2021 15:11 UTC