Prime Minister accused of diversion tactics which Jo Cox would have 'seen right through' in Foreign Office merger

Boris Johnson announced this afternoon that he will merge the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development to create a new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

He told the Commons: “We must now strengthen our position in an intensely competitive world by making sensible changes.

“And so I have decided to merge Dfid with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to create a new department … the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.”

But after the PM had paid tribute to Ms Cox, who was murdered in her Batley and Spen constituency four years ago today, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said she would have “seen right through” the PM’s “distraction” from the fallout from the coronavirus.

Sir Keir said: “I don't need to remind the house of Jo's commitment and dedication to international aid.”

He added: “We should see this statement for what it is, the tactics of pure distraction. Jo Cox would have seen right through this.”

He said: “A few hours ago the ONS figures showed a fall of 600,000 people on the payroll. The economy contracted by 20% in April and we could be on a verge of the return to mass unemployment, something we’ve not seen for a generation.

“We’ve also one of the highest death rolls from Covid-19 in the world, at least 41,700 deaths and likely to be far greater than that.

“And in the last hour the Government has u-turned on free school meals.”

Mr Starmer said: “This statement is intended to deflect attention from all of that and can I assure the Prime Minister it will not work.”

Mr Johnson said the move would “unite our aid with our diplomacy and bring them together in our international effort”.

Earlier, Mr Johnson said the Government remains committed to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid.

He said: “Those well-intentioned decisions of 23 years ago were right for their time.

“They paved the way for Britain to meet the UN target of 0.7% of national income on aid, a goal that was achieved by the coalition government in 2013 and has been maintained… ever since.

“Including this year and it remains our commitment.”

And he said the time was right as coronavirus has already imposed “fundamental changes”.

Mr Johnson said: “The Foreign Secretary will be in power to decide which countries receive or cease to receive British aid while delivering a single UK strategy for each country overseen by the National Security Council which I chair.”

He added: “Now, amid this pandemic this House may ask whether this is the right moment to reorganise Whitehall, but I must say that in reality this crisis has already imposed fundamental changes on the way that we operate.

“If there is one further lesson it is that a whole-of-Government approach getting maximum value for the British taxpayer is just as important abroad as it is at home.

“So, this is exactly the moment when we most mobilise every one of our national assets including our aid budget and expertise to safeguard British interests and values overseas.”

However Rotherham MP, and chair of the Commons international development committee, said she was “incredulous” with the PM.

She told the Commons: “Prime Minister, I am incredulous that you're going down this path. With a single stroke you're getting rid of our soft power and our international standing at a time when the developing world needs us to stand together and show real leadership.”

She added: “Aid and foreign policy are very different, one is humanitarian one is political.”

She said aid spend was “specifically to alleviate poverty, not to safeguard British interests”, and branded the move a “hostile takeover” at the “most inappropriate time”.

But Mr Johnson said: “I think she has been frankly - and I think many members opposite have been frankly- far too negative about this. This is an opportunity for us to get value from the huge investments that we make in overseas spending and to make sure that that spending continues to tackle poverty and deprivation around the world.”