Russian threat means UK army needs more cash, says Ben Wallaceon June 28, 2022 at 4:45 pm

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has urged the prime minister to increase spending on the UK’s armed forces in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a speech, he said funding must react to the “direct” threat Russia poses to Europe.

The UK currently spends around 2% of its GDP on defence, matching the target Nato sets for its members.

But Mr Wallace has reportedly written to the PM asking for an increase to 2.5% by 2028.

He later denied the 2.5% figure but at a conference hosted by the Royal United Services Institute think tank (Rusi), said investment needs to continue to grow before it “becomes too late”.

He described Russia as the “most direct and pressing threat to Europe” and said it was “increasingly clear President Putin cannot be deterred by threat of punishment or the costs imposed upon his people”.

“I’m serious when I say there is a very real danger that Russia will lash out against wider Europe,” he added.

The warning comes as ministers are expected to drop a Conservative manifesto pledge to increase defence spending by more than inflation, a government source told the BBC.

BBC political editor Chris Mason said it would have been more surprising if the government had stuck to the commitment given the rate at which prices were rising.

Boris Johnson earlier declined to comment when asked about future defence spending levels on the final day of the G7 summit in Germany, but said the UK’s commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence was “a floor not a ceiling.”

It was a result of the government’s “lobbying and campaigning” that other countries had increased spending too, he said.

Russia’s aggression has been the catalyst for Mr Wallace’s renewed attempt to step up the pressure.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the new head of the Army, spoke at the same Rusi conference earlier where he outlined his plans to mobilise the army to deter Russian escalation of hostilities.

He said he had never known such a clear threat “as the brutal aggression of President Putin” and likened the current conflict in Ukraine to the build-up to World War Two, describing it as a “1937 moment” for the UK.

“We’re living through a period of history as profound as the one our forebears did 80 years ago,” he said.

The mobilisation effort must start now to prevent war, not provoke it, according to the general.

After a decade of defence cuts, the government announced what it described as an additional £16.5bn of spending over four years in 2020.

But rising inflation and costs mean that may not be enough to meet the defence secretary’s ambitions – ministers now believe they have a compelling case for a further increase given Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

In March, Mr Wallace wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak asking for extra investment and this has now been followed up by a letter to the prime minister, which has been leaked.

In it, the defence secretary also urges the PM to call on other Nato leaders to raise the spend per country to 2.5% of national income.

The PM said the defence budget was £24bn bigger under the spending review in what he described as the “biggest increase since the end of the Cold War.”

He called the UK a “massive” defence spender and said other countries were now coming forward to match his government’s levels of spending.

The size of the UK’s regular army is being cut from 82,000 to 73,000 as part of last year’s integrated defence review, a policy which former head of the army, General Sir Mark Carlton-Smith, said was not enough.

British troops need to be ready to face Russia in the battlefield, a recent internal message from Gen Sir Patrick addressed to all ranks and civil servants said.

The invasion showed the need “to protect the UK and be ready to fight and win wars on land”, he said.

The conference speeches come ahead of a summit of Nato leaders in Madrid, which is also expected to address allies’ readiness and spending on defence.

The defensive alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has already made clear he wants a target of members spending 2% of their annual national income on defence to be a baseline, rather than a ceiling.

Nato’s former deputy supreme commander, Sir Richard Shirreff, believes the UK and its allies must build up its deterrent presence in order to prevent further Russian escalation.

He told BBC’s Today programme earlier that Nato had come a long way since the start of the conflict, but said every member state should equip their armed forces so they were ready for an offensive.

The UK government said it was spending £1.3bn ($1.6bn) on military support for Ukraine, including sending long-range rocket systems.

Anti-tank weapons, short-range missiles, armoured vehicles, drones and air defence systems have also been donated to Ukraine.