Esther McVey has launched her Tory leadership campaign with a pledge to slash £7bn from the foreign aid budget to fund a spending spree on schools and police.
In a direct pitch to the party’s right wing, the hard Brexiteer said the cuts would reduce spending on international development to levels seen under Tony Blair’s Labour government.
Three quarters (74%) of Tory members want the next prime minister to ditch the UK’s pledge of spending 0.7% of gross domestic product on overseas aid, according to a YouGov/Times poll.
But McVey risks alienating scores of Tory MPs who back the target, and whose support she may need if she wants to get to the final stage of the leadership contest, which is a member’s vote.
The former work and pensions secretary said the £7bn could go towards covering a £2bn gap in score school funding, £1bn extra for special educational needs and disability (SEND) and another billion to reverse some of the Tory cuts in areas like further education.
The remaining £3bn would be spent on the police to “transform how officers keep communities safe”, McVey said.
She also criticised Labour’s “gimmicky” pledge to recruit 10,000 extra officers while describing Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott as “anti-police”.
The UK Department for International Development’s (Dfid) budget is spent on ending extreme poverty, tackling disease, trying to limit mass illegal migration and providing aid in conflict and disaster zones, among other things.
At the launch of the Blue Collar Conservatism movement, McVey said: “There’s a lot of MPs who are proud of our work in the UK and are proud of the work it does for the poorest around the world, I share that and we must do that.
“But it’s not an either/or, we can do both and we can combine the support for international communities but also recognise there is an urgent need for our communities at home.
“By maintaining Dfid spending levels at Labour levels, matching the scale of commitment of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, we will satisfy those people who need that.
“But at the same time we have to look at crime which is blighting our streets and making people at home feel unsafe.
“And also we have to look at teachers, at schools, what they need for the children.”
Tory leadership rules
Candidates for the leadership must be nominated by two Conservative MPs. If only one candidate comes forward, he or she becomes leader.
If a number of would-be leaders are nominated, the list is whittled down to a shortlist of two in a series of votes by MPs.
The final pair then go to a postal ballot of all party members, with the position of leader – and prime minister – going to the victor.
McVey also promised “targeted” tax cuts, an expansion of apprenticeships, and using technology to give bus services a boost.
And she dismissed the prospect of an electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, insisting it would be unnecessary under her leadership because Britain would be out of the EU by October 31 even if it means leaving with no deal.
“We will be out on October 31, no more backsliding, and if it means without a deal, we’ll be out,” she said.
“We are the Conservative party, we’ll be aiming to get a Conservative majority, if we deliver Brexit there won’t need to be a Brexit Party.”
Boris Johnson is currently runaway favourite to win the Tory leadership contest expected in summer, whether May defies the odds and gets MP’s approval for her Brexit deal or not.
But McVey is generally regarded as a rank outsider with Dominic Raab expected to provide the main Brexiteer opposition to Johnson.