Fallon Reaffirms Leadership In NATO On Washington Trip

Sir Michael Fallon has met US Secretary for Defense James Mattis in the American capital to reconfirm the UK's commitment to showing leadership in NATO.

The Defence Secretary also said the UK has consistently met NATO’s 2% of GDP spending target and helped encourage an increase of more than £40bn of defence investment by NATO member states. 

Sir Michael set out how the threats to security are growing and changing but pledged Britain will not "step back" from European defence, despite its impending withdrawal from the EU.

"Today our nations are facing a wave of multiple, concurrent, diverse global threats: from Islamist extremism, Russian state aggression, from sponsors of terror, from North Korea testing nuclear bombs and firing off missiles, from the insidious spread of misinformation and from Wannacry-like cyber attacks. Such events demand an international response,".

"We see Brexit as an opportunity not to step back from European defence, but to step up to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security.

"In particular, we're bolstering our bonds with NATO - the cornerstone of defence."

A few days after the EU referendum result in 2016, Sir Michael told Forces News that leaving the European Union 'does not reduce the UK's commitment to continuing to play our part internationally':