British lawmakers failed to force a vote Monday on the government’s cut to foreign aid spending, sparing Prime Minister Boris Johnson from a potentially embarrassing defeat before he hosts the Group of Seven summit this weekend.

However, the non-partisan speaker in the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, ruled that an attempt to reverse the cut via an amendment to a bill going through parliament was not appropriate.

He rebuked the government for not having put to a vote its decision last November to cut the proportion of national income set aside for foreign aid from 0.7% to 0.5%.

He encouraged lawmakers to bring forward a separate motion for an emergency debate on Tuesday and said the Conservative government should bring the decision to a vote soon.

Sankulleh Janko reports.