Return of unpredictable president puts UK defence spending top of agendapublished at 19:57 Greenwich Mean Time 9 November
19:57 GMT 9 November
Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
You’re probably used to politicians telling you we’re living in the most dangerous times for decades. But who’s going to pay for our protection?
Donald Trump is a lot less willing than the current president to pay for other countries’ defence.
As one UK source told me, “it doesn’t make sense for Europe’s defence interests to be dependent on a few thousand votes in Pennsylvania.”
So Trump’s return puts this question right to the top of the list.
The UK government does plan, eventually, to hit the target the Conservatives committed to – of spending 2.5% of the size of the economy on defence, a level last hit back in 2010.
But there’s a defence review under way, and a spending review of every penny spent in Whitehall to get through first.
They’re expected to come one after the other, next spring.
John Healey, the defence secretary, was granted an extra £3bn in the Budget, which is a chunky sum of money – but in terms of defence spending, not a transformative amount of cash.
And it’s only a top-up for a year, with no certainty over long-term funding.
A former minister said: “It’s very hard to order for the years ahead – how long can we be talking, when the need is now?”
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Publish date : 2024-11-10 02:42:00
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