Rishi Sunak DITCHES Tory promise to hike defence spending to 3% of national income

Rishi Sunak tonight ditched Boris Johnson and Liz Truss’s pledges to massively increase defence spending as he announced a £4 billion contract to build five new warships.

The Prime Minister gave the go ahead for the Type 26 frigates to be built on the Clyde in a boost for Britain’s shipbuilding industry.

But he refused to commit to either Mr Johnson’s promise to increase overall defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030 or Ms Truss’s proposed hike to 3% by the same date.

Mr Sunak, who is attending the G20 summit in Indonesia, will today confirm the second phase of a programme to create a new generation of British frigates.

BAE Systems will be awarded a contract to build five more of the Type 26s for the Royal Navy – in addition to the three already under construction.

The ships are designed to protect the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers from hostile submarines.

The project will support 1,700 jobs at the BAE systems sites in Govan and Scotstoun, Glasgow, over the next decade, as well as 2,300 jobs in the supply chain.

Mr Sunak said the frigates would help to “protect ourselves and our allies”.

However, when asked by reporters if he could repeat either of the defence spending promises made by his two predecessors, he declined.

Instead, he said he was committed to Nato’s target to spend two per cent of national income on the military.

“For a long time we were one of only three or four countries to actually meet our Nato target. I’m glad now that that number’s gone up,” he said.

“I think at last count there’s probably nine countries out of the 30 or so that are meeting it.

“We’re the second largest defence spender in Nato. So no one can say that we do not have a very strong position on defence.

“We’ve got not just a current but a historic track record of being strong investors in defence and prioritising Nato.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will address the G20 summit virtually today (TUES). Mr Sunak last night committed to matching next year the £4.1 billion support given by Britain to Kyiv this year, including £2.3b billion in military aid.

The UK’s shipbuilding industry currently supports 42,600 jobs across the UK and contributes more than £2.8billion to the economy.