Rishi Sunak has announced 'a completely funded plan' to raise annual UK defence spending to 2.5% of national income over the next five to six years - laying down a challenge for Labour.
We have been warned. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pre-election pitch to voters this week was to place the nation on 'war footing'. On a lightning visit to Poland and Germany, countries redolent of bloody war in Europe, he announced 'a completely funded plan' to raise annual UK defence spending to 2.5% of national income over the next five to six years. Twenty-five years ago this week another UK prime minister also had war fighting on his mind.
Pessimism growing around UK's ability to defend itself Since the credit crunch of 2007/8, our defence spending has plunged close to that NATO minimum. Mr Sunak's announcement would only increase defence spending to the level of the Blair years. Overall since the year 2000, the number of people employed in the British military has been cut by 30%, heading from 134,000 to 72,000 next year. The army has not been this small since the Napoleonic Wars of the 1800s.
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