UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab denied on Wednesday media reports claiming that the Treasury will seek to finance an upgrade of the United Kingdom's intelligence and defense capabilities by diverting funds from the foreign aid budget
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2020) UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab denied on Wednesday media reports claiming that the Treasury will seek to finance an upgrade of the United Kingdom's intelligence and defense capabilities by diverting funds from the foreign aid budget.
"Well, there is loads of tittle tattle, rather colorful, in the media and I am not going to prejudice the comprehensive spending review," Raab told journalists when asked about the story published by The Times newspaper on Wednesday.
The paper had cited an anonymous source in the government as saying that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak wants to use the 0.7 percent of the national income � amounting to 15.8 billion Pounds ($21 billion) � the UK has pledged to spend in assisting development projects in other countries to fund the upgrading of cyberweaponry and artificial intelligence-enabled drones.
Raab said that the government's commitment to helping other countries remained unchanged.
"It's a manifesto commitment, it's written into law," he stressed.
The foreign minister talked to reporters at the inauguration of the newly-merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which on its opening day has pledged a new 119 million pounds ($159 million) aid package to help fight coronavirus and famine in some of the world's poorest countries.
