Concerns over cuts in aid to Malawi: Letter from First Minister to UK Foreign Secretary
First Minister John Swinney reaffirms Scotland’s special relationship with Malawi and asks UK Government to reconsider any cuts in aid.
To: Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Yvette Cooper MP
From: First Minister John Swinney
Dear Yvette,
As you will be aware, in October I visited both Malawi and Zambia, marking 20 years of the Scottish Government’s international development work, which has its original basis in the signing of the formal Cooperation Agreement between the Governments of Scotland and Malawi in November 2005, by the then First Minister of Scotland and President of Malawi. Scotland’s enduring relationship with Malawi of course preceded that formalisation of the relationship between our two Governments, with strong links between our two countries being in place for over 150 years.
That special relationship with Malawi remains very important to me, and to the government which I lead. It is important too to the people of Scotland, where we see so many links continuing to flourish at community level.
Both before and during my visit to Malawi and Zambia, I was very grateful for the collaborative approach taken by your High Commissioners in both countries, with a warm welcome and excellent support provided by them, and by their staff, to me and my team.
My visit to Malawi allowed me to see first-hand the positive difference and impact that Scottish Government funded initiatives are having on the ground. It is very clear, however, and well documented globally, the very real challenges that Malawi continues to face, across its health services, education, infrastructure, and the increasing devastating impact of climate change on communities in Malawi, in particular those living in rural areas.
It is in that context I wanted to raise my profound concerns about reports of intended large scale cuts by the UK Government to its development assistance budget to Malawi.
In terms of UK cuts, in February 2025 (and affirmed in your Spending Review on 11 June), the Prime Minister announced to Parliament an unprecedented reduction in Overseas Development Assistance, a cut from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income by 2027/28.
In terms of how those cuts in UK aid are then implemented, we have been waiting for sight of the final allocations provided to each of our partner countries, which I understand are due to be made in the next months. I have been extremely concerned, therefore, to read reports in the media suggesting impending – drastic - cuts to Malawi. This includes the report in The National this week [9th December], that Malawi, “one of the least developed countries in the world, could lose out on nearly all of its foreign aid from the UK.” The National reports “The Foreign Office did not deny that aid to Malawi would be cut drastically”.
I note too from The National article that Westminster's International Development Committee has also written to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact to look into the potential effects of cutting overseas aid on Malawi specifically.
For the reasons outlined above, the scale of the cut being suggested is frankly unconscionable – and if this is indeed what is being proposed, I would urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider this decision. As I know you will appreciate, this is no mere accounting exercise – it will have profound, real-world consequences for the some of the poorest communities in the world at the very moment where they require our support. We all agree on the need to support Malawians with their own reforms – but doing so while cutting aid to almost zero will actually make that task significantly harder.
Adding to these pressures, the sovereign debt crisis is affecting many countries in the Global South, including Malawi. In 2024, developing nations’ external debt reached a record $8.9 trillion. Without intervention, these already unsustainable debt levels will continue to grow, deepening inequality and undermining global stability.
The Scottish Government has endorsed the “Cancel Debt, Choose Hope” campaign led by the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and others, which calls for fairer, more transparent approaches to resolving sovereign debt crises. A key proposal is around the introduction of UK legislation to encourage private creditors to engage constructively in debt restructurings. Such legislation has the potential to unlock vital resources for countries in the Global South, without cost to the UK taxpayer.
The Scottish Government is proud of work to support Malawi. The UK Government too was once rightly proud of its efforts on international aid. Now we are seeing an alarming change in approach – cutting funding for those most in need at a time when that support is more necessary than ever.
I ask you to reconsider the reported cuts and to take a position that allows our two governments to work in a spirit of collaboration to support the people of Malawi.
But regardless of the actions of the UK Government, the Scottish Government will continue to be a good global citizen and will continue to support and advocate for our partner countries like Malawi.
Yours sincerely,
John Swinney
