Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:21 PM Johnson to plead with Nato to find extra defence cash... as he breaks his own ... trends now

Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:21 PM Johnson to plead with Nato to find extra defence cash... as he breaks his own ... trends now
Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:21 PM Johnson to plead with Nato to find extra defence cash... as he breaks his own ... trends now

Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:21 PM Johnson to plead with Nato to find extra defence cash... as he breaks his own ... trends now

Boris Johnson will today tell fellow Nato leaders to up their defence spending just as he faces a Cabinet row at home over the budget for British Armed Forces.

At a summit in Madrid, the Prime Minister will demand that countries ‘dig deep’ to meet the threat posed by Vladimir Putin, warning of a dangerous decade ahead.

He will call for the alliance to look at raising its target of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence.

But Mr Johnson last night admitted he is abandoning a commitment he made at the last election to increase the UK defence budget faster than inflation each year.

It puts him on a collision course with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss who both want a substantial increase in spending in response to the war in Ukraine.

In an extraordinary intervention yesterday, Mr Wallace warned there was a ‘real risk’ Russia could ‘lash out’ against the UK and its European allies.

The Defence Secretary said the British military had for too long had to survive on ‘a diet of smoke and mirrors, hollowed-out formations and fantasy savings’.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks to journalists on his plane during a flight from Germany where he was attending the G7 Summit to the NATO Summit in Madrid. At a summit, the Prime Minister will ask NATO to raise its target of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence

Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks to journalists on his plane during a flight from Germany where he was attending the G7 Summit to the NATO Summit in Madrid. At a summit, the Prime Minister will ask NATO to raise its target of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence

He insisted the UK’s defence budget should rise from 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent by 2028, an extra £10billion a year.

Asked about Mr Wallace’s remarks in the Commons, Miss Truss said: ‘I agree with [his] concerns. The free world did not spend enough on defence post the Cold War and we are now paying the consequences.’

It is understood Mr Wallace has submitted a formal letter to Mr Johnson calling for a 20 per cent increase in defence spending to make up for shortfalls in capability and counter the growing threat.

In the 2019 Conservative manifesto, the party pledged to raise defence spending by 0.5 per cent above the rate of inflation each year.

With inflation set to hit 11 per cent this year and the public finances battered by the impact of the pandemic, government sources admitted the promise would be dropped.

Mr Johnson

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