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Theresa May is plotting to divert cash earmarked for starving children to help fund British military operations.

Sources claim the PM wants to spend some of the £13billion now devoted to overseas aid on 800 UK troops sent to bolster Nato defences in Estonia.

International rules set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development state that aid money cannot be spent in Eastern Europe other than Ukraine and Albania.

But the Tory manifesto published last week said: “We will work to change the rules. If that does not work we will change the law.”

OECD rules already allow for aid money to be spent on conflict prevention and troops to protect aid workers.

Now Mrs May wants the cash used in Estonia, where our soldiers were deployed to deter Russian aggression.

Shadow International Development Secretary Kate Osamor said: “This is not appropriate. It’s just propping up a military operation.”

Ex-MP David Miliband, now boss of the International Rescue Committee, said: “It is vital the allocation of aid serves people in need and isn’t diverted for other aims.”

And a consortium that includes Oxfam and Save the Children added: “We need an unequivocal commitment to helping the poorest.

“The OECD rules exist to ensure that and any changes risk a dangerous dilution of their impact.”

Mrs May has committed Britain to continue spending 0.7 per cent of its wealth on overseas aid.

Last year that funded jabs for 67 million kids and gave food to 30 million pregnant women and under-fives.