Tories demand PM units timetable for pushing defence spending to 2.5%

Keir Starmer is facing demands to set out when he plans to increase UK defence spending in the face of growing threats from Russia and China.

New shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge accused the Prime Minister of not treating national security as a priority because he has yet to set a timetable for upping funding to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

Sir Keir and new Defence Secretary John Healey have said they will meet the target, but will only say when once a defence review is complete – a process that could take the new government up to a year. 

Writing for MailOnline today, Mr Cartlidge, who was a senior defence minister under Rishi Sunak, criticised the PM for not mentioning defence in the King’s Speech priorities for the term ahead. 

‘We must pay a higher price for our safety. I get it. You get it. But Sir Keir is yet to wake up to this reality,’ he said.

‘We’ve been clear that we will support the Government when it is in the national interest – not least on backing Ukraine. 

‘But we will also do our constitutional job of holding Labour to account when they get things wrong. And failing to commit to a clear timetable on reaching 2.5 per cent spending on defence threatens to undermine our armed forces at the worst possible time.’

Last week the PM said that boosting defence spending is essential to tackling the ‘generational threat’ posed by Russia and other hostile states, s he attended the Nato conference.

And today Sir Keir Starmer said the first task of the European Political Community is to ‘confirm our steadfast support for Ukraine’ as he opened the summit at Blenheim Palace.

‘Every day Ukraine fights affects not just the Ukrainian people, but the European people. A continent where our belief in freedom, democracy and the rule of law was hard won and that wants to live in peace.’

He said he was struck by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments at Nato that Ukraine needs more air defence before children go back to school.

‘And that really struck me because returning to school after the summer break, that should be a moment of joy, of excitement for children – new uniforms, new exercise books, seeing how much their friends have grown over the summer holidays and reuniting with friends.

‘How could anyone consider that a target? So our first task here today is to confirm our steadfast support for Ukraine, to unite once again behind those values that we cherish and to say we will face down aggression on this continent together.’

In addition Mr Healey has already travelled to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky.

Mr Cartlidge added: ‘Sir Keir must keep on track with the Conservatives’ increase in defence spending because the risk of not doing so is quite simply that we will fall behind the capability levels of our adversaries – genuinely losing military competitiveness.

‘Around the world, autocracy is on the march whilst democracy is on retreat. The UK has always been a bastion of freedom, security and justice. This has only been possible because of generous spending on defence.’

‘The world is more dangerous than many of us can ever remember … we must pay a higher price for our safety’

By James Cartlidge, shadow defence secretary 

What is not said in King’s Speeches is just as important as what is said. It shows what the Government’s priorities are for the year ahead. Regrettably, by leaving out any commitment to increase defence spending, it seems our national security is not the priority our Prime Minister claims it is.

The silence on defence spending was deafening.

The world is more dangerous than many of us can ever remember, with war in Europe and our own naval ships directly threatened in the Red Sea.

We must pay a higher price for our safety. I get it. You get it. But Sir Keir is yet to wake up to this reality.

We’ve been clear that we will support the Government when it is in the national interest – not least on backing Ukraine. But we will also do our constitutional job of holding Labour to account when they get things wrong. And failing to commit to a clear timetable on reaching 2.5 per cent spending on defence threatens to undermine our armed forces at the worst possible time.

There is an old adage that security at home starts abroad. And this has never been truer than today.

The lines of a new global axis threatening the United Kingdom are slowly but surely being drawn. Taiwan, the Middle East and Ukraine are testing grounds for remarkably similar Russian, Chinese and Iranian expansionist foreign policy.

Sir Keir must keep on track with the Conservatives’ increase in defence spending because the risk of not doing so is quite simply that we will fall behind the capability levels of our adversaries – genuinely losing military competitiveness.

Around the world, autocracy is on the march whilst democracy is on retreat. The UK has always been a bastion of freedom, security and justice. This has only been possible because of generous spending on defence.

Over the last 14 years, countries around the world have known that the UK has been serious about international security.

When Russia annexed the Crimea in 2014, we were the only country in the world to train Ukrainian forces.

When Russia invaded the rest of Ukraine, it was the previous Government that took the bold action necessary to deliver vital munitions to Ukraine’s armed forces – which kept them in the fight.

Without such support, Ukraine would not have stood a chance against Russia’s full-scale invasion and the world would have been an even more dangerous place than it is today.

But the public want to know that, in parallel with our continued support to Ukraine, we will also replenish the munitions of our own armed forces. The fact is that our confirmation of 2.5 per cent would have enabled major orders of shells and missiles for the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Without 2.5 per cent what will happen to those orders?

We need the Government to think again and confirm as a matter of urgency a clear timetable to reach 2.5 per cent.

That would be the right thing by our country and all those who serve in our armed forces.