Ben Wallace, who is accompanying Johnson to NATO summit in Madrid this week, reportedly sent a letter to the prime minister asking for a defense budget increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2028. It is currently just over 2.1%. Wallace was expected to publicly ask for a raise in a speech later Tuesday at the Royal United Services Institute defense thinktank. The Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto pledged to keep defense spending above NATO’s 2% of GDP target and also “increase the budget by at least 0.5% above the new parliament’s inflation each year.” But with inflation above 9% and a further rise expected, that would mean a very significant increase. A senior government source warned that the commitment was unlikely to be fulfilled. “There is a reality check for things that were offered at different ages,” they said. “The intention is always to abide by the manifesto’s commitments, but they were made before 400 400 billion was spent on tackling a global pandemic that no one could have predicted.” Johnson declined to comment on Wallace’s request and spoke of the prospect of an immediate conflict between the United Kingdom and Russia. “I do not think it will get there and we are clearly working very hard to ensure that we limit it to Ukraine,” he said in Germany on the last day of the G7 summit before heading to NATO. concentration in Spain. “The Kremlin will try to escalate the conflict and say that this is something that needs to be done between NATO and Russia. that’s not it at all. “ Johnson added that the UK was already making “huge commitments” on defense spending and that spending 2% of GDP on defense was “a floor, not a ceiling”. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said of the 0.5% promise: “We are committed to this and the 2% [Nato GDP target] but I still do not speculate on future budget commitments. “ If the rise of 0.5% above inflation is not achieved, it will face possible resistance from the Ministry of Defense. Wallace’s leak request for defense spending to reach 2.5% of GDP, first reported by Talk TV, came as recent NATO data showed that the percentage spent by the UK had fallen. for the second consecutive year. A British defense source declined to comment on the leak, but added: “The Secretary of Defense and the Prime Minister have always said that the government will respond to any changes to the threat, so in 2020 the Department of Defense received a record agreement on defense.” Figures released by NATO on Monday show that Britain is projected to spend 2.12% of national defense revenue in 2022, above the alliance’s 2% target but below the 2.26% spent in 2021 and 2.3% in 2020. During the NATO summit, the United Kingdom is expected to confirm that it will deploy up to 1,000 more troops to help protect Estonia, in addition to the 1,700 stationed there. It is part of a broader NATO policy to increase the forces defending the front-line states in Eastern Europe to the size of a brigade. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST General Sir Patrick Sanders, the army chief, also hinted that Britain would have to spend more on defense in response to Russian aggression. The chief of staff said the British army had to mobilize “to prevent war”, arguing that the army was facing a “1937” period in which it had become necessary to modernize and adapt “to face the current threat”. ». The head of the agency did not immediately request additional spending, but said at a ground war conference that the United Kingdom and other European NATO members needed to bear more of the cost of defending Europe given US growing concern about China. He said: “Given the US commitments in Asia at [coming decades]I believe that the burden of conventional deterrence will fall more and more on the European members of NATO. “ Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP who chairs the Communities Defense Committee, told the Guardian that it would be best to move gradually towards the 3% of GDP target over the next three years. Asked if he would be worried about the abolition of the 0.5% measure, he said: “Very much. “The last comprehensive review was cost neutral, so a shift in cyber defense and space has been to the detriment of our contractual capabilities, which we need now.”
