Tri-Service
"Defence Spending to Fall Below Two Per Cent by 2017"
The UK will break its pledge to spend two per cent of gross domestic product on defence by 2017, according to a report in The Sun.
The newspaper said Chancellor George Osborne had made this clear in two letters to Number 10 in recent months, citing a senior Whitehall figure.
The Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Committee warned that allowing UK defence spending to fall below the Nato target would undermine Britain's credibility and embolden Vladimir Putin.
Committee chairman Rory Stewart said he remained "very much hopeful" his party would commit in its general election manifesto to remaining above the minimum beyond the current commitment to 2016 but cautioned that failing to do so would be "a big mistake".
A spokesman for the Chancellor, meanwhile, told The Sun: "For strong defence you need a strong economy.
"We have made no projections beyond April 2016, though we have made an equipment pledge to 2020.
"As the Prime Minister and the Government has made clear, decisions going forward will be made at next spending round."
Forces TV contacted the Treasury directly about the story but department officials declined to comment.
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