The Guardian: Poorer countries must ‘put their hands in their pockets’: U.K. warns of cuts to aid
“Britain will cut foreign aid to developing countries if they fail to invest in their own people, the international development secretary has said. Penny Mordaunt said the British government, which gives out £13bn of foreign aid a year, ‘will not invest when others should be putting their hands in their pockets.’ Aid groups responded with concern, saying a ‘significant need’ for aid remains across all low-income countries, even among those who invest in health and social care…” (McVeigh, 1/15).

The Independent: Penny Mordaunt under fire for pledging to spend U.K. foreign aid in ‘national interest’ not just to help world’s poorest
“…Penny Mordaunt came under fire after pledging to allocate her £13bn overseas aid budget on ‘tackling the issues that matter most to the British people.’ Such projects could include preventing plastics polluting the oceans and the illegal wildlife trade — which ‘the British public care about passionately,’ she said. Labour warned immediately that the strategy risked weakening support for aid spending, if the public no longer believed it was helping ‘to make the world fairer.’ … Doubts were also raised about the legality, under international rules, of diverting aid cash to pursue the donor’s interests — rather than those of the recipient countries…” (Merrick, 1/16).