Sunak pressured over defence spending

The Prime Minister has been urged by two serving ministers to increase defence spending “as soon as economic conditions allow”.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a foreign minister and former defence minister, and Tom Tugendhat, the security minister and experienced soldier, have broken cover by publishing an article that does not appear to have been sanctioned by Downing Street.

“It’s clear to us that the UK needs to lead the way in increasing our own domestic defence and security spending commitments to 2.5 per cent and beyond,” they wrote in a piece posted on Ms Trevelyan’s LinkedIn page on Friday evening.

“Former defence secretary Ben Wallace and prime minister Boris Johnson made inroads into growing our defence budgets, which had been shrinking in real terms for years. But that only filled the hole. Now we need growth.”

The pair highlighted China’s announcement of a 7.2 per cent rise in its defence budget to $230bn (£179bn) – more than twice what it was a decade ago.

This increase comes despite China already having the second-highest defence budget behind the United States.

And the figure is considered to be only a fraction of spending by the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party, once spending on research and development and foreign weapons purchases are considered.

Tensions with the U.S., Taiwan, Japan and neighbours with competing claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as furthering growth in high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Mr Tugendhat and Ms Trevelyan also pointed out that Russia “is committed to spending 40 per cent of its expenditure on defence and security this year. Vast sums by any standard to fight its illegal war in Ukraine”.

President Vladimir Putin continues to divert more resources towards its war in Ukraine – with spending on defence set to increase by almost 70 per cent this year from 2023.

The British ministers added that UK defence spending on the other hand has risen 28 per cent from £43bn to £55bn over the last 10 years.

Failures of the Budget?

The news comes amid growing uneasiness among Conservative MPs and military insiders at a failure by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to announce new funding for the armed forces in the Budget – despite the defence secretary warning the UK is in a “pre-war world”.

Instead, Mr Hunt just reiterated a vague pledge to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of national income – from just over 2 per cent at present – “as soon as economic conditions allow”.

Ms Trevelyan and Mr Tugendhat did not refer to this year’s budget, but military experts have expressed concern over the level of funding set out on Wednesday.

The announcement appeared to track a decline of £2.5bn in defence spending in the financial year to March 2025 compared with the previous 12 months.

The Ministry of Defence has said this is because the data did not include new money for the military that was pledged last autumn, as well as support for Ukraine.

Ms Trevelyan – who oversees the Indo-Pacific region in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – stressed the need for Europe to step up security on its borders as the United States increasingly focuses on the challenge posed by China.

Mr Tugendhat underlined the threats he sees at home “funded by illicit drug money, weapons trafficking and the abuses of modern slavery and people trafficking”.

He warned: “Those who wish our country, and our way of life, harm are more active than ever.”