Overseas aid budget for education cut by a quarter this year, data shows

Reduction came before this week's move to slash UK spending on poorer nations to 0.5% of national income, with girls worst affected

The overseas aid budget for education was slashed by more than a quarter by the government this year, even before this week's further axing of a third of aid spending, according to analysis seen by the Guardian.

As anger met the government's announcement this week, it was revealed that it has already reneged on the Tory manifesto pledge by cutting primary and secondary education funding as part of 2.9bn of cuts made by Dominic Raab in July. On Wednesday in parliament, while announcing he would seek to legally cut the aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income, Raab reiterated a promise to prioritise girls' education, which was immediately dismissed as empty rhetoric" by the shadow international secretary.