Billions spent on ‘refugees and migrants’ in UK to be counted as foreign aid

Senior Tories could rebel against the move, according to reports

Funding for Ukraine reugees is to be counted as foreign aid under the move (PA)

Billions of pounds of government spending in Britain is to be counted as foreign aid.

Under Treasury rules, as much as £3.5 billion for refugees and migrants in the UK will be considered part of Britain’s contribution to international development, The Times reported.

It means the government is in line to spend almost half of the foreign aid budget in Britain, leaving 0.3 per cent of gross national income to go on projects overseas – below the government target of 0.5 per cent.