Election 2019: Johnson ratchets up plans for Foreign Office takeover of Dfid
Boris Johnson is considering rolling the Department for International Development (DFiD) into the Foreign Office, as part of a huge money-saving exercise if he returns to Number 10 this week.
The Prime Minister – who was foreign secretary for two years under Theresa May – has charged officials at both the FCO and DFiD to draw up plans showing how a merger of the two departments would work, and how better the country’s £13.4bn overseas aid budget can be used, the FT reports.
Sources told the paper Johnson could fold the two departments into one by early next year, as part of a wider shake-up of Whitehall and a Cabinet reshuffle after Brexit, currently scheduled for 31 January.
However, some DFiD officials have raised concerns that the overhaul could be used to cut Britain’s overseas aid budget, which has long been criticised by those on the right of the party.
Priti Patel, current home secretary and former international development secretary, has previously suggested the department be scrapped outright.
In the summer it was reported that Johnson was considering cutting the Cabinet by half in order to save £8bn.
As well as rolling Dfid into the FCO – which at the time was reported to save the country £1bn – Johnson’s team were looking at justice, business, culture, international trade, work and pensions, transport and Brexit to see if they could be abolished or merged with other departments.
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