Bus fare cap coming from aid budget will hit world’s poorest, Burnham told

Andy Burnham during a visit to a bus station in Bath on Wednesday to promote his £2 fare cap. Photograph: Toby Melville/PA View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham during a visit to a bus station in Bath on Wednesday to promote his £2 fare cap. Photograph: Toby Melville/PA Bus fare cap coming from aid budget will hit world’s poorest, Burnham told Funding proposal for cost of living policy ‘throws global south countries under the bus’, says ActionAid UK director Burnham announces bus fares to be capped at £2 UK politics live – latest updates The world’s most vulnerable people will be put at risk by Andy Burnham’s decision to use the aid budget to pay for cheaper bus fares in England, charities have said. The prime minister announced on Wednesday that he would reduce the fare cap from £3 per journey to £2 for next year, funded mainly by changing international climate donations into repayable loans. The switch allows the government to borrow more against those loans without violating its borrowing rules. But experts say it will also leave people in the poorest parts of the world more vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis. It comes after the government indicated the new aid minister, Kirsty McNeill, would not attend cabinet as her immediate predecessors did, prompting concerns the government is downgrading its commitment to international development. Joanne O’Neill, the co-director of advocacy at ActionAid UK, said: “The prime minister’s fare cap scheme is a welcome initiative but his funding proposal throws global south countries under the bus, penalising those most impacted by a climate crisis they did not create.” She added: “Delivering international climate finance as loans instead of grants pushes countries deeper into debt and forces them to divert funding away from essential public services such as education, health and social protection – which disproportionately impacts women and girls.” Monica Harding, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for international development, said Burnham’s decision would “further undermine the UK’s standing as a reliable global partner”. She said: “Swapping crucial climate grants for loans will ultimately fall on the backs of the world’s poorest, racking developing nations with more destabilising debt. This will only harm Britain’s security in the long run, fuelling more migration and instability abroad.” Romilly Greenhill, the chief executive of Bond, which represents aid organisations, said: “It is disappointing that the new prme minister is picking up where the previous one left off, by continuing to raid the diminished UK aid budget to prop up much-needed funding for the cost of living crisis here in the UK. “The cost of living crisis in the UK needs to be urgently addressed, but robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the answer and pitches marginalised communities here in the UK against marginalised communities in lower-income and climate-vulnerable countries.” Danny Gross, a climate campaigner at Friends of t