UK's Wes Streeting insists defence spending rising fast enough

Wes Streeting has insisted the UK government is moving as fast as possible to hike defence funding, after criticism that the budget did not do enough to map out the route to spend 3.5% of the economy on the military in a decade's time.

The Defence secretary also signalled other areas of government spending could face constraints as a means of filling defence coffers.

At the budget on Wednesday, Chancellor John Healey filled a £4.7 billion black hole in the defence investment plan, a blueprint that takes Britain's defence spending to 2.7% of gross domestic product by 2027.

He also committed to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, as a step towards meeting Britain's commitment to Nato to spend 3.5% by 2035.

But the chancellor said details of where this cash will come from will be left until the spending review, currently pencilled in for next autumn.

Streeting defended against criticism from the chair of the Commons defence committee, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, that this is too long to wait for more detail.

The Defence secretary told BBC Breakfast: "I like Tan very much. He's a friend, and I respect him. But I strongly disagree with him, and I don't think the charge he makes of delaying or kicking the can down the road stacks up against the extra money that is already going into defence and the capability we're funding right now."

He pointed to warm words from Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, and other senior military leaders, who welcomed the budget's commitments to defence.

Streeting added: "I think we are doing as much as we can, as fast as we can. The biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War."

The Times reported that the chancellor is looking at "off the books" means of raising defence spending, which will not result in extra taxes or borrowing.

This includes setting up an international defence bank with allies, and allowing private companies to provide upfront funding for new kit, the newspaper said.

Healey alluded to these measures at the budget, when he announced an "innovative defence financing taskforce" to investigate how to draw in cash from allies and the private sector.

Defence Secretary Streeting told Sky News that the private sector deals under consideration would be different from the Private Finance Initiative, PFI, contracts of the New Labour era, which have been criticised for their costly impact on the public purse.

He also suggested to Sky that other areas of public spending may face cuts to pay for the increased defence budget.

Streeting said: "I recognise that other government departments, as well as taxpayers, are doing some heavy lifting to make sure we prioritise defence. That's the right thing to do.

"To get to 3% by 2030, we're going to have to look at spending in the round, and so it's right to do that at [the] spending review.

"But I think what the Chancellor did at the Budget this week was to give industry, our allies, the same confidence that frankly I've had since day one and the assumption I've been planning towards, which is that we'll be spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, on the way to hitting our Nato target."

By David Lynch and George Lithgow, Press Association Political Staff

Press Association: News

source: PA

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