Tory MPs Accuse Government Of Sidestepping Defence Spending Tensions

A number of Tory MPs are concerned the Government is sidestepping the issue of defence spending, as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) continues to announce policies to bolster strategy rather than resource.

Defence is an area on which the Conservative party is usually highly trusted by the public, which Government is keen to emphasise ahead of the next general election, which will be called this year. While the Treasury has already committed to putting an extra £25 billion in to the MoD between 2020-2025, the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War, there remains concern that this may not be enough in the face of depleted resource, inflation, and weakened global security. 

During a meeting in Florida earlier this week, Foreign Secretary David Cameron reportedly addressed concerns made by Republican nominee for US president Donald Trump about how much the UK is "putting into defence spending", according to the Telegraph. The UK, Australia and US are also weighing up plans for its global security alliance Aukus to partner with Japan.

But several Tory MPs with expertise in defence say they are unconvinced the government has done enough to reform the MoD and provide it with enough funds to bolster the armed forces. There is particular concern that Government has so far refused to commit to spending three per cent of GDP on defence. So far the Prime Minister has committed to increase the target to 2.5 per cent, although no timeframe has been given to achieve this. 

One former cabinet minister told PoliticsHome what made the issue “more pressing” was the continuing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the perceived threat of China. They felt more of the funding had to be targeted at beefing up the military