Rishi Sunak has been warned his Government would be “asking for trouble” if the Ministry of Defence is starved of cash in next week’s Budget despite Vladimir Putin’s ongoing aggression.
Reports published today have suggested the Ministry of Defence – led by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps – will not get any extra funding next week.
The Treasury, previously headed up by Mr Sunak when he was Chancellor and now led by Jeremy Hunt, will argue that ongoing pressure on public finances makes increased defence spending impractical, The Telegraph reported.
Two years after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, tensions are simmering in Europe, with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday refusing to rule out the possibility of Western troops being deployed there.
The French President’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from the Kremlin, with Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov warning conflict with Russia was “inevitable” should Mr Macron go down that path.
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford, who served in the 4th Royal Tank Regiment, told Express.co.uk that if true the decision “flies in the face of everything that’s happening in Europe and elsewhere”.
He continued: “If ever there was a time to up defence spending and expand Britain’s military it is now.
“You just can’t do defence properly on the cheap. It’s hugely costly at a time when all departments of government are crying out for money.
“But without defence, all those other departments might not exist.”
Iain Ballantyne, editor of naval magazine Warships IFR, told Express.co.uk: “Just chucking money at something is not the only answer of course. Getting more bang for buck as a matter of urgency should be top of the UK Government’s ‘to-do list’ and that requires better management of the current Defence budget.
“It must surely be so with Grant Shapps and other political leaders of Europe warning war with Russia looms, and especially with the UK having given away much of its fighting equipment to the Ukrainians.
“It now needs to be replaced and increased as soon as possible – especially missiles, shells, artillery and naval mine warfare capabilities.”
“And it is no good the Government waffling on about new frigates coming soon. They are needed right now to replace ones being rapidly decommissioned due to a lack of crews and the sheer cost of keeping elderly vessels in service.
Given Putin’s Russia is now “on a war footing” having stepped up the production of ammunition significantly in recent months, curbs to defence spending were “asking for trouble”, Lt Col Crawford stressed.
He added: “I think it’s a bit of a gamble.
“Britain’s security cornerstone is NATO and I guess we’re relying on sheltering under its umbrella.
“But if Trump returns to the White House – and I’m pretty sure he will at the moment – then we may be looking at a different scenario altogether.”
In a leaked letter to former generals, head of the British Army General Sir Patrick Sanders said: “Our strategic resilience is at risk, and we might inadvertently reduce ourselves to a smaller, static and domestically focused land force.
“I am not sure that this is either the Army the nation needs, or the one that policymakers want.”
Mr Sunak is committed to increasing defence spending as a proportion of GDP to 2.5 percent once economic circumstances allow it.
Mr Hunt will deliver his statement on March 6.
The Treasury declined to comment on speculation about the Budget.
The government provided the MoD with a £24billion uplift in cash terms over the Spending Review 2020 period.
In addition, in the Spring Budget 2023, it provided an additional £4.95billion for defence over the next two years and £2 billion every year for the remaining forecast period to improve the resilience and readiness of the nation’s conventional and nuclear forces, representing an extra £11 billion over the course of the next five years.
