Countries: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, World Source: Tearfund Responding to the Prime Minister's announcement that UK aid will be cut to fund defence Nigel Harris, Chief Executive at Tearfund said:“The decision to slash the already strained UK aid budget is appalling and will mean that around the world families go hungry, children don’t go to school and women’s rights are sidelined. It is a devastating blow to the world’s most vulnerable communities and a betrayal of the UK’s own interests. At a time of unprecedented humanitarian suffering, drastically cutting overseas aid is indefensible and short sighted. It undermines hard won gains and signals a retreat from tackling extreme poverty, conflict and global health crises.The UK needs to step up to its global responsibilities right now. Instead this government has broken its manifesto commitments, while undermining the UK’s credibility and its claims to be a world leader on development and on combatting climate change. The aid budget saves lives around the world; cutting it will result in more deaths, more disease, and more conflict.”– ENDS –-For further information please contact media@tearfund.org**. For urgent out of hours media enquiries please call 07929 339813.**Notes to editors:Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visitwww.tearfund.org.