General Lord Richard Dannatt has said it is “urgent” Britain increases defence spending even further than 2.5%.
Lord Dannatt welcomes Sir Keir Starmer’s commitment in moving the defence budget from 2.3% to 2.5% by 2027 and by 3% in 2029.
Speaking to GB News General Dannatt said, “I’m not going to give you a shopping list of what needs to be done, but there is a historic legacy of repeated peace dividends being taken from our defence budget, going right back to the early 1990s, at the end of the Cold War.
“We’ve accepted increased risk to our military capability. But now, when we’re faced with our key partner, the United States, wanting to do less to secure Europe, we’ve got our principal foe.
“If you look at Vladimir Putin, a proven aggressor continuing his war in Ukraine, it doesn’t take a genius to realise that we’ve got to spend more on our own defence.
“In the wider world, it’s disappointing that we’re probably going to plunder the international development budget, because the UK’s influence in the world often comes through a combination of our hard power, our soft power, our diplomacy, and our development funds.
“But priorities have to be established, and the priority that is urgent now is spending more on defence.
“How much more will be debated over the coming years, but going from 2.3% to 2.5% is a significant step in the right direction.
“So congratulations to the Prime Minister for listening to the argument, doing the right thing, and it will give him a slightly easier ride with Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday.”
Starmer said this is the “biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of cold war.”
