I have agonised about writing this article. In my time as minister of state at the Department for International Development (DfID), I witnessed British aid workers circumventing the despotic leaders of South Sudan to save hundreds of thousands of lives from famine. I met our staff working in Mogadishu in the long UK-sponsored battle to get Somalia back on her feet. And I met British troops on the front line in Nigeria, training its army to defeat Boko Haram.

I challenge anyone to say this work is unnecessary. I disagree that Britain should retreat from it or from the world stage. I found that our aid does immense, immeasurable good. Spending 0.7% of our gross national income (GNI) on helping our fellow humans is the