Ed Miliband has announced an £88million aid package to Gaza – just as the British Army faces cuts to save £30million.
The huge aid package will provide medical relief, including rehabilitation for children with blast injuries, and mental health services for Palestinians.
Britain’s tax-funded aid will also provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene services, waste management, the Foreign Office said.
Mr Miliband said: “It is vital that civilians in Gaza have unhindered access to aid.
“The UK is pledging a major new package of aid to provide much needed healthcare support to those desperately in need.
“We urge the Government of Israel to listen to our call to action and take steps to end its unacceptable restrictions on Gaza.”
The Foreign Office said the aid package followed a “reset of its approach to Israel and Palestine earlier this month”.
Andy Burnham announced sanctions on goods produced by West Bank settlers in what critics have described as a “de-facto boycott” of Israel.
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman, said the funds should be spent on solving issues closer to home.
Ed Miliband’s aid package will provide ‘much needed healthcare support to those desperately in need’
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The British Army has been made to cut down on training exercises amid a £30million funding gap
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“Scrap that,” he said. “Use the money to build a new hospital wing in Grimsby, not Gaza.”
The package will be used to help up to 900,000 Palestinians receive medical consultations, up to 1,000 children to receive rehabilitation and prosthetic treatment, solid waste management for up to 900,000 people and safe water provision through emergency water trucking for 150,000.
It will also provide mental health and “psychosocial support” for up to 21,000 Palestinians.
The British Army, meanwhile, has been ordered to cut training to save £30million – a decision slammed by the UK’s own Nato allies.
Army reserve commanding officers have been told to find savings before the end of the year – meaning every Army reservist is thought to be losing an average of four to six days of service.
Lt Gen Benoit Desmeulles, the commander of France’s First Army Corps, said it was a “very, very bad idea”.
The Foreign Office aid package will provide mental health and psychosocial support to 21,000 Palestinians
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The Foreign Secretary coincided the announcement with his time at the UN
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“I’m sad for my English friends,” he told The Telegraph. “We had the same a few years ago. It’s not a good thing. No training equals no ‘fight-tonight’ capacity.
“If we are not good at our job and we don’t have the equipment, that’s a recipe for disaster. So it’s a very bad thing.”
Hundreds of troops have been ordered to halt training amid temporary spending cuts, while thousand in the reserve forces have been told to serve fewer days.
John Healey, now the Chancellor, resigned as Defence Secretary over the Treasury’s unwillingness to meet a target of three per cent of GDP on defence by 2030.
But as Chancellor, he has yet to commit to his own target, pushing it from October’s Budget to his spring statement.
John Healey is currently searching for around £10billion in tax increases or funding cuts
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Mr Healey is searching for around £10billion in tax increases or funding cuts to ensure he balances the books “with a buffer”.
The Conservative Shadow Minister for War Readiness, Stuart Anderson, told The Telegraph: “I am particularly concerned about the Labour Government cutting the training budget for our Army, but when a senior French army commander warns that cutting British Army training is a ‘recipe for disaster’, this is as concerning as it is embarrassing.
“The first duty of any government is to defend the realm, yet Labour is cutting training to save £30million.
“This is short-sighted and foolish – we need a battle-ready Army. This is precisely the wrong decision by the Government.
“There will be a knock-on impact to war readiness over the coming years by cutting training now.”
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