British diplomats and donors are told to merge
Melding the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development leaves big issues unanswered
FOR THE PAST two decades Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been steadily hollowed out, while a separate ministry that hands out aid to poor countries has grown in wealth and stature. As Brexit grinds on and co-operation with the EU in diplomacy and development dwindles, Boris Johnson wants to reinvigorate the Foreign Office to prepare Britain to stand alone. With much bombast on June 16th, he declared that the Department for International Development (DFID) would be folded back into the Foreign Office, from which Tony Blair had detached it with much fanfare in 1997. Will this move beef up British foreign policy or help to reduce poverty abroad?
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Will charity begin at home?”
From the June 20th 2020 edition
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