Rob Merrick

London

U.K. Correspondent at Devex

Political journalist, UK corr for @devex Also @LobbyXI football team veteran skipper and parly pool champ. Welshman.

Articles

UK will slash billions in aid spending to fund larger military

Feb 25, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stuns Labour MPs by shifting billions of pounds from development to pay for a bigger military — despite a manifesto promise to increase aid spending to 0.7% of GNI. The United Kingdom plans to slash aid spending to just 0.3% of national income, claiming the dramatic step is the only way to boost the country’s defense budget to meet the “generational challenge” of Russia’s threat.
‘We're not going to bend our knee’: How aid leaders reacted to VP at MSC

Feb 21, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

A Devex Pro event hears of the stunned — and defiant — behind-the-scenes response in Munich to the U.S. vice president calling time on Washington's development leadership. Global development leaders began to formulate a fightback immediately after the “nuclear bomb” of U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s explosive speech to the Munich Security Conference — which called time on U.S.-led international cooperation, a key insider says.
Special edition: The development undertones at the Munich Security Conference

Feb 17, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

A gruesome graph released prior to the Munich Security Conference listed 23 countries that will lose more than 1% of their national income if — despite a federal judge’s order — the USAID funding freeze lasts for a full year. Eight countries face a hit of 3% or more.
Ghana on US aid cuts: ‘As bridges are burning, new bridges are formed’

Feb 14, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has warned the United States it will lose influence abroad to other major powers because of its massive aid cuts, telling the Munich Security Conference: “As bridges are burning, new bridges are being formed.”Mahama told a conference side meeting that his country has been forced to make $156 million in spending cuts to economic growth and education plans, and — “the most critical” — health care programs because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s aid freeze.
Brits say UK ‘dramatically diminished’ actor on global crises

Feb 13, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

The United Kingdom plays a “dramatically diminished” role in confronting global problems compared with 20 years ago, according to public polling released to mark the anniversary of the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign.
UK bilateral aid rises sharply after predicted cuts averted

Feb 7, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

Funding for regional programs doubles year-on-year — but development minister hints the U.K. will fail to pledge at crucial nutrition and vaccine summits next month. The United Kingdom is delivering significantly more bilateral aid than expected this year — including a 10% increase for countries in Africa — after avoiding budget cuts widely feared just months ago.
6 lessons for the US from the UK's aid department's traumatic demise

Feb 6, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

Five years after the Department for International Department was axed, the fallout still reverberates — and may hold clues for the impact of USAID's disappearance. “I learned as a young banker in the City [of London] that there is no such thing as a merger: one side wins and the other side loses,” sighed Andrew Mitchell, the former United Kingdom development minister, as he recalled the chaotic death of its dedicated aid department five years ago.
New UK debt distress plan will not solve crisis, campaigners warn

Feb 5, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

The U.K. is encouraging private creditors to respond to the debt crisis facing lower-income countries — but campaigners say the initiative is like fighting a forest fire with a water pistol, with legislation needed for real change. A new scheme launched by the U.K. government to help lower-income countries that are struggling to pay their debts has been criticized by campaign groups as a major disappointment that will fail to bring private lenders to the table.
Debanking has spurred armed groups to storm charities, says new report

Feb 3, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

A study finds 42% of Muslim-led charities have been hit by “a complete withdrawal of banking services" — sometimes resulting in violent threats “when project staff salaries are delayed.” “Payments were getting held up by banks,” remembered one NGO worker attempting to operate in a challenging area in the Middle East, adding: “Because of these delays, local vendors would come to our field offices demanding payment at gunpoint, putting the lives of our workers at risk.” The terrifying episode...
UK aid: Labour warned its plans 'won't work’ without more money

Jan 31, 2025 | devex.com | Rob Merrick

Devex Pro event hears Labour's first six months in power have brought fine words but little decisive action — and ponders how the U.K. should respond to U.S. President Donald Trump. It is six months since the Labour Party won the United Kingdom’s general election — a perfect opportunity to assess whether it is meeting its bold promise to “turn the page” on what it condemned as a “degraded” international development program after 14 years of Conservative rule.