British government's continued commitment to overseas aid welcomed

The Catholic International Development Charity Progressio on Thursday welcomed the news that the British government will honour its commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas aid by 2013. The charity’s comments come a day after Britain's Finance minister George Osborne unveiled a package of harsh spending cuts, the most severe since the Second World War.


The coalition government aims to cut 83 billion pounds, or 95 billion euro, from the country's budget deficit over the next four years.

Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane, Advocacy Manager at Progressio, Tim Aldred, said they were “delighted that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor held their nerve on this issue.”

He also added that the fight against poverty is an issue that the UK and the Holy See have in common. “It was a huge theme in the visit of Pope Benedict to the UK last month”, he said. Listen