Lord West of Spithead, who headed the Royal Navy from 2002 to 2006, told The Independent Britain should be spending 4 per cent of GDP on defence, adding that successive governments have “betrayed the British people about defence spending” and have “lied about the capabilities of our military”.
Tensions over defence spending come as the government prepares to publish a strategic review of Britain’s defence capabilities, including setting out a pathway to defence spending hitting 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Boosting spending to Labour’s 2.5 per cent target would add around £5 billion to the Ministry of Defence’s budget, and Treasury sources indicated Rachel Reeves is not willing to allocate more than 2.3 per cent in this year’s spending review.
Asked about the implications of Sir Keir’s plans to send troops to Ukraine, IFS associate director Ben Zaranko told The Independent it could lead to a structural need for a permanent increase in defence spending.
And former defence secretary Ben Wallace said the future of Nato depends on Britain spending at least 3 per cent of GDP by 2030.
