PM May committed to Britain to being a leading military power: spokeswoman

Thomson Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May is committed to Britain remaining a leading military power, her spokeswoman said on Thursday, rejecting a report that she had questioned why Britain should remain a "tier one" military nation.

"We are a leading military power and the PM is committed to ensuring that remains the case," the spokeswoman told reporters.

"We have the biggest defense budget in Europe and the second-biggest in NATO and we are committed to that."

The Financial Times reported that at a meeting this week, May had asked her defense minister to justify Britain's status as a "tier one" military power, sending shockwaves through the defense establishment just weeks before a major NATO summit.

(Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; editing by Stephen Addison)

See Also:

• Kremlin says aware that U.S. national security adviser heading to Moscow

• Euroskeptics to head Italian parliamentary finance committees

• Kurdish YPG to begin leaving Syria's Manbij on July 4: Turkish foreign minister