Government hints at increase to defence spending as Commons Leader Penny Mordant keeps up pressure on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt amid calls for £3bn a year boost for Britain’s Armed Forces
- Penny Mordaunt ‘confident’ Jeremy Hunt will keep defence spending ‘strong’
- There are growing demands for the Chancellor to boost Britain’s Armed Forces
A Cabinet minister today hinted the Government will boost defence spending amid demands for a £3billion annual increase for Britain’s Armed Forces.
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, this morning said she was ‘confident’ that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would ‘keep defence spending strong’.
The Portsmouth North MP, a former Royal Navy reservist, also pointedly referred to Mr Hunt’s own pledge last year – when he briefly ran for the Tory leadership – to increase the defence budget to 3 per cent of GDP by 2028.
Ms Mordaunt was responding to comments by General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command.
He demanded Mr Hunt approve a £3billion yearly boost and stop ‘deliberately keeping defence broken’, while three former defence secretaries also urged the Chancellor to increase military spending at next month’s Budget.
There are demands for a £3billion annual increase for Britain’s Armed Forces ahead of next month’s Budget
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, this morning said she was ‘confident’ that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would ‘keep defence spending strong’.
Ben Wallace, the current Defence Secretary, was recently reported to have asked Mr Hunt to commit between £8billion to £11billion over the next two years
Asked about the growing calls for increased defence spending, Ms Mordaunt told Sky News: ‘We know that this is our first job as a Government and our record in Government has been that we have prioritised defence and we have kept defence spending strong and always met our NATO commitments.’
The Cabinet minister added that those ‘worried’ about the level of military spending should ‘listen to what the Prime Minister said’ at the Munich Security Conference yesterday – when Rishi Sunak reiterated Britain’s commitment to Ukraine.
She continued: ‘Listen to what the Government said in the Autumn Statement last year which recognised the need to increase defence spending.
‘Look at what the Chancellor has previously said, the son of an admiral, one of the most experienced people in Cabinet, about his desire to increase defence spending to 3 per cent as he has made a commitment in previous years.
‘And look at Ben Wallace, no one can doubt his commitment to the Armed Forces.
‘I am confident we will keep defence spending strong and it will be the priority for this Government.’
Mr Wallace, the current Defence Secretary, was recently reported to have privately asked Mr Hunt to commit between £8billion to £11billion over the next two years to avoid deep cuts to the Armed Forces.
This was said to be due to concerns over the costs of inflation, foreign exchange fluctuations and the higher cost of funding Nato and Ukraine.
Gen. Sir Richard told the Sunday Express that – amid the threat posed by Russia – the Army was ‘in no state to fight’ and the Armed Forces ‘at their most broken since the Cold War’.
He also hit out at ‘political incontinence’ at the heart of Downing Street and a failing to recognise the challenge Moscow poses.
‘Prioritising domestic issues such as boats in the Channel when the UK faces a looming existential crisis is just political incontinence,’ he added.
‘We have never felt smaller and never have the key decisionmakers at the heart of Government felt more disconnected from the reality we all face.
‘They are refusing to acknowledge the world we live in by deliberately keeping defence broken at the most critical time for a generation.’
Former defence secretaries Sir Michael Fallon, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Michael Portillo also called for a boost to military spending at the Budget on March 15.
‘We were spending twice as much during the Cold War and we’re now facing even hotter threats, including from new weapons and new technologies of all kinds,’ Sir Michael, who was defence secretary under David Cameron and Theresa May from 2014-17, told the newspaper.
Mr Wallace last week warned the war in Ukraine has exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s defences.
He said forces across the Continent were paying the price for years of ‘hollowing out’ that has seen ammunition stocks depleted, readiness levels reduced and essential maintenance neglected.
Mr Wallace said that at a time that the world was becoming ‘much more dangerous and unstable’ it underlined the need for a long-term increase in the defence budget.
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