News

Fury as Labour minister admits upping defence spending to hit 2.5% of GDP may NOT be delivered within five years

Labour faced an angry backlash last night after a minister admitted a vital boost to the military may not be delivered within five years.

A Treasury minister refused to confirm that the Government will raise defence funding to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the current Parliament.

Darren Jones also suggested that spending on the over-stretched Armed Forces may lead to ‘trade-offs’ in other public services.

His comments came despite Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin warning that Britain needs to ‘strengthen our Armed Forces’ in a ‘more dangerous world’.

Last night former top brass and senior Tories said the spending increase – called for by the Mail’s Don’t Leave Britain Defenceless campaign – was urgently needed.

The row on Remembrance Sunday came as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to discuss with France’s president the future direction of the war in Ukraine in the light of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The Prime Minister will hold talks with Emmanuel Macron today as he becomes the first UK leader since Winston Churchill to mark Armistice Day in Paris.

Former head of the Army Lord Dannatt told the Mail: ‘With Trump resuming the presidency in the US, the UK Government would be well advised to commit to 2.5 per cent on defence by a definite date, well before 2029, as soon as possible.

‘Not to do so is a surefire way of getting on the wrong side of Trump. In any event, it is the right thing to do.’

Lord West, former First Sea Lord and a security minister under the previous Labour government, said: ‘There is no doubt whatsoever that the UK needs to spend more money on defence – it is well accepted. If we need to spend it, then we need to spend it now.

‘They’ve decided they’re not going to put more money into defence at the moment because they want to balance the books.

‘It seems extraordinary to me – why don’t they just admit defence and security of our nation is not the highest priority?’

Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who worked on the 1998 strategic defence review, said the 2.5 per cent target needed to be reached ‘tomorrow’, adding: ‘We should start buying ammunition and missiles to send a very clear signal that we’re serious. We’ve got to make a statement.’

And Tory defence spokesman James Cartlidge said: ‘Labour must urgently give us a firm deadline for reaching 2.5 per cent to ensure our future national security is maintained.’

Britain is on course to spend £57 billion on defence in the current financial year, equivalent to 2.3 per cent of GDP.

This is above the 2 per cent minimum set for Nato members but no longer considered sufficient given the threats facing the West and the depleted state of the forces’ stockpiles.

Ahead of the election, the Tories pledged to increase military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, reaching an estimated £87 billion that year. By contrast, Labour refused to put a date by which the new benchmark would be reached.

Mr Jones told the BBC yesterday: ‘We didn’t set a date in the manifesto for two reasons. The first is that we needed to conduct a strategic defence review, which is happening at the moment, and will report in the spring.

And the second is because, of course, with all spending decisions, it has to be subject to wider fiscal considerations.’

Asked if Labour would commit to keeping its promise by the end of the current Parliament in 2029, he replied: ‘I’m not going to give you a date today because it relies on the outcome of the strategic defence review.’

Told that he could commit to a point by which the promise would be met, Mr Jones said: ‘No, because it would be a half-informed answer.’

Asked by Sky News if defence spending will be dependent on growth figures, he said: ‘Defending the country is a non-negotiable. That is not a trade-off. The trade-off is then with other areas of public spending.’

Sir Tony told Sky News: ‘We’re in a more dangerous world. That means we need to strengthen our Armed Forces.’

Related Posts

Trump plans to kick transgender troops out of the military with 15,000 service members to be ‘medically discharged’ on his first day in office, report claims

President elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to issue an executive order on his ‘first day in office’ to ban transgender members of the military. The controversial order would cause as many as 15,000 active service members to be ‘medically discharged’ – deeming them unfit to serve, according to The Times. Trump seeks to issue the executive action on January 20, 2025 or Day 1 of his term, the Times said, preventing any transgender people from enlisting in the military as all branches continue to struggle with recruitment.

Revealed: How ‘Morrisons Four’ stole £120k of goods from British supermarkets on orders of international crime gang

A gang of shoplifters dubbed the ‘Morrisons Four’ by police stole £120,000 of goods from British supermarkets on the orders of an international crime gang, an investigation has found. The shoplifters were ordered to steal from more than 50 branches of Morrisons by gangs from Romania, who then resold the goods through a wholesaler and car boot sales. A new Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Britain’s Shoplifting Gangs Exposed, lays bare how dozens of retailers appear to have been targeted in this way.

Megyn Kelly issues withering assessment of Trump Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth

Megyn Kelly has issued a withering assessment of Pete Hegseth amid reports he allegedly 𝑠e𝑥ually assaulted a woman in 2017. Kelly, 54, who worked with Hegseth, now 44, at Fox News, joined the Charlie Kirk Show and gave her opinion on the allegations swirling around Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary. When asked by Kirk about the ‘smear campaign’ against Hegseth, Kelly, who said she’s ‘the reason’ he became a Fox News contributor, admitted that she doesn’t ‘recommend marrying’ him.

Meet the man behind the petition demanding a general election: More than one million Britons have called for change amid fury at Labour’s Budget tax raid

The man who set up a petition demanding a fresh general election which has picked up over a million signatures has said people feel ‘betrayed’ by Labour. Michael Westwood, who is the owner of Britain’s ‘cheapest pub’, said he didn’t imagine in his ‘wildest dreams’ that his campaign, which has been reposted by Elon Musk, would get such traction. The petition, which complains that Keir Starmer has ‘gone back on promises’, has been gaining over 100,000 backers an hour.

Father of British ex-soldier, 22, who was ‘captured by Putin’s forces while fighting for Ukraine on Russia soil’ says he’s terrified he’ll be tortured in captivity after he was paraded on TV

A British former soldier has been captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine in Kursk, his family confirmed tonight. The soldier, James Scott Rhys Anderson, was paraded in front of the cameras and a short video clip published by Kremlin-backed sources online. The 22-year-old’s father told the Daily Mail he was in ‘complete shock’ to discover his son’s fate and said he fears he will be tortured.

I accidentally threw away my boyfriend’s £569MILLION Bitcoin fortune. It wasn’t my fault, but I hope he finds it… because it will finally shut him up!

A woman has revealed how she accidentally threw away the ‘key’ to her boyfriend’s £569million Bitcoin fortune, as he fights for the right to search a huge landfill in an attempt to find it. Halfina Eddy-Evans, speaking for the first time about her ex-boyfriend James Howells’ cyber nightmare, admitted taking the hard drive to the tip in Wales but claims she did so at his request. Howells claims he mined the Bitcoin himself in 2009 and then forgot about it. But after discovering the 8,000 coins are now worth around £569m he is fighting for the right to search the landfill run by Newport Council.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *