Britain’s aid spending on education and health in countries around the world is set to plunge by up to 72 per cent by 2027, The Independent can reveal. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has folded what were previously three separate budget lines – covering education, health, gender and equality , and development – into a single "Human Development" directorate. Analysis of the latest FCDO annual report suggests the combined funding lines have been cut by 72 per cent between 2024–25 and 2026–27, from £1.54bn to £433m. Spending is projected to partially recover to £1.24bn by 2028–29 – but that is still 20 per cent below 2024–25 levels in cash terms, and more accounting for inflation. The reorganisation makes it difficult to track cuts to individual programme areas from these thematic splits in the published accounts alone, with some funding coming from other areas of the aid budget.…