The PM said the uplift would boost ‘our capability on defence and security in Europe’, but stopped short of ruling out using defence cash to fund Chagos deal.
Ms Badenoch asked Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions: “This morning the defence secretary could not say if the Chagos deal would come out of the defence budget.
A government source hit back, adding that there were “orders of magnitude” between the annual uplift in defence spending and any future payments to Mauritius for the Chagos deal.
But the PM faced intense pressure at PMQs to say whether any of the additional £6 billion in annual defence spending announced on Tuesday will be used to fund the Chagos deal.
The row came after a Tory source told The Independent that the £6 billion extra for the Ministry of Defence taken from the aid budget would in fact be spent on leasing back the Diego Garcia base.
