British ministers eye up life after Johnson, call for reversal on aid

In Britain, MPs have begun making demands for life after Prime Minister Boris Johnson as they urged the next government to immediately reverse cuts to Britain's aid budget.
Johnson is facing growing calls to resign. Dozens of members of government resigned on Wednesday after the latest revelations about the handling of a series of scandals.
Mr Johnson's administration reduced funding for official development assistance (ODA) from 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to 0.5% last year.
They cited the pressures of the pandemic despite the commitment being enshrined in law and included in the Conservative Party general election manifesto.
It was predicted the policy would see annual aid spending decrease by £4 billion to £10 million, while the Government later said it expected to restore funding in 2024/25 when the economic situation has sufficiently improved.
But with Mr Johnson fighting for his political future after a fresh wave of resignations, MPs pressed any successor administration to take action.
For Labour, shadow international development secretary Preet Kaur Gill said support for aid spending should not be a party political matter.
She said: "Together we now have a real chance to pressure the new government and the new Chancellor to bring back the 0.7% commitment with a clear timeline."
Liberal Democrat international development spokeswoman Layla Moran earlier called on any "incoming administration" to "restore the aid budget immediately".
SNP international development spokesman Chris Law said: "These death sentence cuts are as miserable and as rotten as the core of this Government today.
"It is morally and pragmatically indefensible that this UK Government continues to actively jeopardise the lives and well-being of the world's most poorest and vulnerable."
He added: "But with this Prime Minister's time in Number 10 rapidly coming to an end and I hope these irresponsible actions and callous attitudes towards the world's poorest and most vulnerable are reversed as swiftly as possible."
Labour former minister Liam Byrne also said: "I very much hope ... that the new administration will look hard at the arguments we have made today and seek to reverse the appalling policy and the appalling cut and the appalling breach of trust that was represented by the slash in our aid budget."
Foreign Office minister Vicky Ford, concluding the debate, said: "The global pandemic was in nobody's manifesto and we faced the worst economic contraction in over 300 years.
"Our borrowing in 2021 was the highest it's ever been outside of war time and it was a really difficult decision to reduce the ODA spending from 0.7% to 0.5%.
"But it is a temporary reduction and we are still the third largest donor in the G7 as a percentage of GNI that we spend.
"We are committed to returning to 0.7% as soon as the fiscal situation allows."