International development and Foreign Office to merge

The government department responsible for overseas aid is to be merged with the Foreign Office (FCO), the PM has announced.

Boris Johnson told MPs abolishing the separate Department for International Development (DfID) would mean aid spending better reflected UK aims.

He said the "long overdue reform" would ensure "maximum value" for taxpayers.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the move would weaken UK influence, and he would re-establish DfID if elected PM.

Three former prime ministers - Conservative David Cameron, and Labour's Gordon Brown and Tony Blair - have also criticised the move.

Mr Cameron said it would mean "less expertise, less voice for development at the top table and ultimately less respect for the UK overseas".

Ministers are aiming to set up the new joint department - called the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office - by September.

The move to combine the two, which have a previous history of being merged and split up again, has long been mooted in Conservative circles.

Announcing the plan in the Commons, Mr Johnson said the new joint department would lend "extra throw-weight and kilowattage" to the UK's aims overseas.

By Al- Helalee