Labour’s failure to commit on defence spending would be disaster for Nato, Shapps warns

Labour’s refusal to commit to spending 2.5 per cent of national income on defence would be a “disaster” for Nato, Grant Shapps has warned.

The defence secretary said it would provide evidence to Vladimir Putin that the West was “throwing in the towel” over Ukraine.

Mr Shapps also suggested that farther down the line, it could give Donald Trump the impression that European countries were unwilling to fund their own defence – one of his previous criticisms of Nato – should he win November’s US presidential election.

Security has become a major dividing line between the Tories and Labour, with Rishi Sunak attacking Sir Keir’s party for refusing to match his pledge to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.

Mr Shapps, who is battling to keep his seat of Welwyn Hatfield, said it was still not too late to stop “Starmergeddon”, saying it would be “dangerous” for the country for Labour to have such unchecked power.

But most polls predict that Thursday’s election will lead to a huge majority.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Shapps said: “I’m genuinely concerned about this. I know Keir Starmer is going round saying the right thing, but that is different to taking action and committing the money that is needed.

“He has not committed to 2.5 per cent with a timeline if he gets into office on Friday. It means that on his first day, he will be asked what budget he needs to cut next year: should it be spending on defence? Spending on Nato?

“It will be embarrassing when we have already told Nato’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg that the UK will commit to 2.5 per cent by 2030, and then as one of the first acts of the new Labour government be to renege on this pledge.

“It will send a very strong signal to the rest of Nato, as well as being damaging to Britain. It’s also naive in a dangerous world.”

He added: “Putin is looking for the West to throw in the towel, and he was clear this would never happen under the Conservatives.

“Not having a timetable for 2.5 per cent takes away from our moral leadership and our military leadership, and it would be a disaster for the alliance for the government to renege on the pledge.

“All this would be in a context where Trump and others will look at Europe’s desire to contribute to their defence. Britain should be leading by example, helping to bounce others into increasing their contribution.”

Mr Shapps’s comments come after Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, used his first major intervention in the election campaign to rally voters to choose Conservative.

Speaking in London on Tuesday night, Mr Johnson said: “If you want to protect our democracy and our economy and keep this country strong abroad by spending 2.5 per cent of our GDP on defence which Labour still refuses to commit to, then you know what to do, don’t you, everybody?

“There’s only one thing to do – vote Conservative on Thursday my friends and I know you will. I know you will.”

Mr Shapps pointed to defence and pensions as reasons to back his party on Thursday and avoid heralding in a so-called super-majority under Labour.

He said Labour’s refusal to rule out a so-called retirement tax was “scaring the life” out of pensioners in his constituency.

Sir Keir has refused to back the Tory pledge to bring in a “triple lock plus” for pensioners, which states that older people will not have to pay income tax on their state pension.

Forecasts show that the state pension will soon rise above the threshold at which people start to pay income tax.

The defence secretary said that when he tells voters about this on the doorstep, “it really bites”.

He said: “Something that comes up on every doorstep is Labour’s failure to back our triple lock plus plan. It is scaring the life out of pensioners in this country.”

He said: “Pensioners will be trapped into paying income tax on it, and it shows that the Conservatives are the only party who will protect pensioners.

“They haven’t forgotten 75p, they haven’t forgotten how Labour raided their private pensions. I tell people that Keir will tax their home, their job, their car and their pension – and it’s the last one that really bites.”

Gordon Brown faced criticism as chancellor in 1999 when he only put up the state pension by 75p. Two years earlier, he scrapped tax relief on dividends that pension funds received on their investments.

With polls predicting Labour to win as many as 430 seats on Thursday, Mr Shapps said: “It is in no one’s interest to see unchecked power.

“The polls show a majority which is not like Boris’s, it’s bigger than Blair’s. It would be a blank cheque for the Labour leader to cause havoc.

“I think that is a dangerous place for a country to be in, but it’s not too late to stop Starmageddon. You can still stop it tomorrow and ensure a proper opposition or better still a Conservative government.”