Military 'can't operate on warm words': Tories outline plan to boost defence spending by £10bn
The Conservative Party has announced how it would fund a £10bn per year uplift in order to hike defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
The extra investment would be funded through more cuts to the welfare bill, and the party has claimed that it would be the largest real-terms increase in defence spending in a generation.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has spoken about the plans at a press conference in central London.
Government's first duty is defence
The opposition's defence pledge comes after Prime Minister Andy Burnham was forced to defend his plans to fund the Armed Forces during his first Prime Minister's Questions.
Mr Burnham told Mrs Badenoch that there was "no problem" with the party's commitment on defence.
The Conservatives have said that the UK Armed Forces "cannot operate on warm words", but require kit and equipment, echoing criticism from the Commons Defence Select Committee chair, Tan Dhesi.
Mr Dhesi said that "vibes alone just isn't going to be enough" as he warned the government over a reported reversal in plans to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
"The first duty of every government is defence, and the Conservatives will always put our defence first," Mrs Badenoch said.
Threats from around the world: Russia and Iran
The measures to raise the £10bn uplift include allocating £2.5bn from the National Wealth Fund to the National Defence Resilience Bank as part of the party's Sovereign Defence Fund, shifting £2bn of the civil research and development budget into defence, and ditching the Chagos Islands deal.
Mrs Badenoch's party suggest that the UK is continuing to face various threats from around the world after Russia threatened "catastrophic" consequences for the UK over the support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, CIA director John Ratcliffe was said to have visited Moscow to warn Russia to urge them not to attack.
Elsewhere, the party has said that the situation in Iran is "unstable and unpredictable".
"Andy Burnham came to office with no plan for how to fund our defence and no idea what to do about the out-of-control welfare bill," shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said.
"The longer he dithers and delays, the greater the risk to our security and to the British public, who will keep paying more and more in benefits while the Armed Forces who keep us safe have to make do with less and less."
Responding to the Conservative Party's announcement on its plans for defence spending, Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson, James MacCleary, said: "The Conservative Party spent nearly a decade hollowing out our military – leaving our Army and Navy at their smallest since the Napoleonic and Civil Wars – while undermining our security through their botched Brexit deal.
He said that lost revenues due to Brexit, which the party says could have been worth up to £90bn last year.
The Liberal Democrats said their own plan for defence bonds would raise £20bn over two years.
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
