UK accused of abandoning world’s poor as aid turned into ‘colonial’ investment

Rebrand of Foreign Office's development arm, seen as effort to rival China's loans, will shift aid to private sector, warn NGOs and unions

The British government has been accused by NGOs and trade unions of chasing colonial post-Brexit fantasies" at the expense of the world's poorest as they urge Liz Truss to keep aid focused on poverty reduction rather than geopolitical manoeuvring.

In a joint letter to the foreign secretary, the group criticises the rebranding of the UK's development investment arm, which will see the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) become British International Investment (BII) next year.