Labour refuses to commit to matching Rishi Sunak's defence spending pledge of ... trends now
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Labour came under fire yesterday for refusing to commit to match the Government's plans to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps questioned why Sir Keir Starmer would not back the plan, revealed by the Prime Minister this week, despite claiming his 'changed' party would 'never shut its eyes to the threats our country faces'.
John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said he shared the Government's 'ambition' to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent but claimed the timeline set out was not fully funded.
And Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, said Labour would only raise spending to 2.5 per cent 'when circumstances allow'.
She said: 'You wouldn't expect me to come on and say that we could spend £75 billion by 2030 without having a plan as to where we were going to get the money from.'
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps questioned why Sir Keir Starmer would not back the plan
On Tuesday, Rishi Sunak promised to reach 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, spending more than £75 billion extra on defence over the next six years compared with current levels.
It was a victory for the Mail's Don't Leave Britain Defenceless campaign, launched after there was no new defence cash in last month's Budget. The commitment will be funded by slashing 72,000 civil service jobs — and Mr Shapps said he wanted 'people on the front
