Yahoo News War footing as Sunak ramps up defence spending
Rishi Sunak said he would put Britain’s defence industry “on a war footing” as he unveiled the biggest boost to military spending in a generation.
Speaking during a visit to Poland, the Prime Minister unveiled £75 billion in new funding that will take the defence budget to 2.5 per cent of national wealth – or £87 billion a year – by the start of 2030.
Mr Sunak announced that £10 billion would be used to “put the UK’s own defence industry on a war footing” and “hugely ramp up” domestic weapons production.
He said the plan, which will make Britain “by far the largest defence power in Europe”, would serve to “show our enemies that we are resolute and determined”.
The Prime Minister also committed to matching this year’s £3 billion of military support for Ukraine every year until at least the end of the decade.
It comes after the US Congress finally cleared a long-delayed $95 billion foreign aid package, largely for Ukraine.
Mr Sunak’s announcement was welcomed by Nato, and the Prime Minister – who will hold talks with Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, on Wednesday – challenged other European countries to match Britain’s commitment.
He said that if all Nato nations increased their spending to 2.5 per cent, the alliance’s collective budget would increase by more than £140 billion a year.
“I believe we will look back on this moment as a similar turning point in European security,” he said in the speech alongside Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general. “And I’m confident that, whether in months or years, others will follow, too.”
Mr Stoltenberg praised Mr Sunak’s decision to increase defence spending and, in a pointed challenge to other nations, said Britain was “leading the way” in Europe.
Recommended
How the extra money for defence could be spent
The Prime Minister insisted that “we’re not on the brink of war” and said the UK was not seeking confrontation by boosting its Armed Forces.
But he warned: “In a world of increasing threats, we must show our enemies that we are resolute and determined, that their attempts to destabilise our world or redraw its borders by force will fail.
“That, with our friends and allies, we will be at the forefront of the defence of the free, democratic world, and under my leadership the United Kingdom will always stand up for our interests, deter our enemies and defend our values.”
Earlier in the speech, the Prime Minister quoted Sir Winston Churchill, saying: “As Churchill said in 1934, ‘to urge the preparation of defence is not to assert the imminence of war. On the contrary, if war were imminent, preparations for defence would be too late’.”
Writing for The Telegraph, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, welcomed the announcement, saying it showed that “Britain has lost none of her famous resolve”.
Evoking the memory of D-Day, he added: “In all the great conflicts of the 20th century, Britain prevailed because we understood what was at stake. That is no less important a precondition for success in the 21st century.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Mr Sunak warned that hostile states were “increasingly acting together” so they could cause “more instability, more quickly, in more places at once”.
Iran and North Korea have supported Russia’s war in Ukraine by supplying it with drones and ammunition, while China has propped up Moscow’s economy.
Iranian proxies including Hamas and Hezbollah have been at the forefront of attacks on Israel and vessels linked to its allies in the Red Sea.
And, against the backdrop of a possible second Donald Trump presidency, Mr Sunak said Europe “cannot keep expecting America to pay any price or bear any burden if we ourselves are unwilling to make greater sacrifices for our own security”.
In February, Mr Trump claimed he would let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” to Nato members that failed to hit the alliance’s spending target of 2 per cent of GDP.
The additional money announced by Mr Sunak will be used to nearly double annual spending on arms production, with a focus on hypersonic missiles, lasers, anti-tank rockets and artillery shells.
A new Defence Innovation Agency, modelled on the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, will also be set up to develop weapons.
Defence spending will ratchet up over the next six years, from £64.6 billion this year to £87.1 billion in 2030-31, rising from just over 2.3 per cent of GDP at present to 2.5 per cent.
Officials said the annual increase would partly be funded by plans to cut the Civil Service to pre-Brexit levels, saving £2.9 billion.
Mr Sunak had been under growing pressure from Tory MPs to increase defence spending amid concerns about Britain’s readiness for war, among them Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, and Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons.
The Prime Minister’s announcement on Tuesday won widespread praise in the Conservative ranks, including from those who had previously been critical of his record on Armed Forces funding.
Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary – who has called for Britain to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence – said the spending uplift would “make the United Kingdom the arsenal of European democracy”.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Wallace said: “This increase in our defence budget is the best step Britain can take to prevent future conflict.”
Mr Sunak said the budget uplift was fully funded, meaning it would not need to be paid for with tax rises or spending cuts elsewhere.
