Will Paxton and Guy Lodge’s call last week to protect bilateral aid spending has sparked a lively debate, notably a counter argument we also published to prioritise multilateral spending from Kevin Watkins. Here they address Kevin’s (polite) criticisms, arguing for a better balance between multilateral and bilateral aid – and that listening to countries and communities leads to giving priority to jobs and growth, even if, as Kevin argues, aid has not been very effective in delivering them.  

Protecting bilateral spending from excessive cuts is going to be the first and most important step to ensuring the FCDO can still exert influence in an era of 0.3%, say Guy Lodge and Will Paxton. They discuss the new world of a lower UK aid budget and the pitfalls and opportunities it presents.