David Cameron has warned that merging the Department for International Development (DfID) with the Foreign Office will cause the UK to lose respect on the world stage.
The former Conservative leader said that Boris Johnson's decision to merge the two departments was a "mistake", in a pointed public rebuke of his former political rival.
"More could and should be done to co-ordinate aid and foreign policy, including through the National Security Council, but the end of DFID-UK will mean less expertise, less voice for development at the top table and ultimately less respect for the UK overseas," he tweeted.
Mr Johnson announced the move on Tuesday to MPs, saying: “Distinctions between diplomacy and overseas development are artificial and outdated.”
The new combined department, which will be known as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office when it launches in September, will be led by Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab.
Mr Johnson has signalled that funding for the new department may be directed in areas of strategic geopolitical interest for Britain, such as Ukraine.
But the Government has said it will maintain a statutory commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on overseas aid.
In his rare intervention into current political debates since leaving office, Mr Cameron - a long-term public supporter of DfID - added that he believes that the Prime Minister was was "right to maintain the commitment to 0.7 - it saves lives, promotes a safer world and builds British influence".
He was joined in his criticism of the merger by fellow former premiere Tony Blair, who criticised the move as “wrong and regressive”.
In a statement, Mr Blair said: “I am utterly dismayed by the decision to abolish Dfid. We created Dfid in 1997 to play a strong, important role in projecting British soft power. It has done so to general global acclaim.
“It is a leader in both programmes and thought in development, helping millions of the world’s most vulnerable to be relieved of poverty and killer diseases.
“The strategic aims of alignment with diplomacy and focus on new areas of strategic interest to Britain could be accomplished without its abolition. Wrong and regressive move.”
Also among those condemning the decision were former international development secretaries from the Prime Minister's own party.
Justine Greening attacked the move being made while the fight against Covid-19 is ongoing, saying: “People will find it hard to see why it’s a priority to have a departmental organisation.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the announcement is “a distraction” from how poorly the Government is handling the pandemic.
Sir Keir said: “We should see this statement for what it is, the tactics of pure distraction.”
He added: “A few hours ago the ONS figures showed a fall of 600,000 people on the payroll. The economy contracted by 20% in April and we could be on a verge of the return to mass unemployment, something we’ve not seen for a generation.
“We’ve also one of the highest death rolls from Covid-19 in the world, at least 41,700 deaths and likely to be far greater than that.
“And in the last hour the Government has u-turned on free school meals.”
Mr Starmer said: “This statement is intended to deflect attention from all of that and can I assure the Prime Minister it will not work.”
