If Britain slashes its aid budget to Yemen, we will all pay a grave price

Editorial: Allowing a group such as al-Qaeda to be established as a de facto government in the rubble is hardly in the interests of the west

Yemenis are given food rations at a camp in Sana’a (EPA)

It was never going to be possible to cut the UK’s aid budget painlessly, and some of the worst fears about this cruel policy may soon be realised. On Monday, the United Nations hosted a high-level pledging event to assist the Yemeni people and protect them from starvation.

According to the UN, around two-thirds of the Yemeni people rely on humanitarian assistance for survival; some 4 million have been forced from their homes, and some 50,000 are already starving in famine-like conditions.

In all, 16 million are at risk of hunger this year – with the most acute cases in conflict-affected areas. The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, says the severity of the suffering is “impossible to overstate”.