Charities: History will ‘judge’ UK over Yemen aid cutsLONDON: Over 100 charities have written to the UK government criticizing its decision to cut aid to Yemen. In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the charities say the decision to reduce vital funds to the war-torn country is a “misjudgement” that will “destroy the UK’s global reputation as a country that steps up to help those most in need.”Earlier this week, it emerged that the government proposed to reduce the UK’s aid budget to Yemen, currently in the grip of famine and war, to £87 million ($120.4 million) this year, down from £164 million in 2019-2020. The British government is thought to believe that the public will support the move as part of cost-cutting measures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But the letter — signed by Oxfam, Christian Aid, Save the Children and Care International, among others — suggested that such a view would change rapidly once the true scale of the damage done by reducing aid became apparent. “History will not judge this nation kindly if the government chooses to step away from the people in Yemen,” it added.

Source: Libya Today March 03, 2021 12:20 UTC