Gordon Brown forced the fight against poverty onto the political agenda, and kept it there. Photograph: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images Last week’s autumn statement overshadowed two other significant political events. One was the announcement by Gordon Brown that he was stepping down as an MP. The other was the passage of a private member’s bill through the House of Commons enshrining in law the commitment of the UK to spend 0.7% of its annual income on aid. Given the difficulty George Osborne is having making his sums add up, the aid pledge seems extraordinary. The police, the courts, the army, and local government face eye-watering cuts during the next parliament but the budget for overseas...
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