Is it time for UK defence spending to rise?

The controversial plan also involved cutting the number of tanks from 227 to 148 upgraded ones, the RAF losing its fleet of Hercules transport aircraft and the Royal Navy “retiring two of its older frigates early before new ones come into service”.

The PM defended the cuts last November, telling the House of Commons Liaison Committee that “we have to recognise that the old concepts of fighting big tank battles on European land mass… are over” and that there were “better things” for the UK to invest in when it came to defence.

The Indy100 news site described Johnson’s statement as having “aged spectacularly badly in light of Russia invading Ukraine”. Given the substantial fighting that is occurring on the ground in Ukraine, it looks like Wallace’s ambitious overhaul may need to be reviewed. 

In addition, said The Telegraph’s deputy political editor Lucy Fisher, “the ease with which Russian tanks have been attacked by Ukrainian forces and faced other difficulties has raised eyebrows among the British defence establishment”. One UK security insider told her that the MoD would need to “learn from Russian army failures”.

How does UK compare?

According to the Military Balance 2022 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the UK has overtaken India to become the third largest defence spender in the world. 

Along with France, the UK is western Europe’s leading military power, but other countries are in the process of analysing their defence budgets and ramping up their spending on security. 

The IISS report pointed out that European defence spending grew by 4.8% in real terms in 2021, “more than any other region”, demonstrating that “European states have turned a corner in terms of their defence spending since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014”.

On 27 February, prompted by the invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a €100bn defence fund to modernise the country’s military and an increase in annual defence spending to more than 2% of Germany’s GDP – a significant increase from the current level of below 1.5%. 

During a 30-minute speech to the Bundestag, Scholz “changed German security policy more radically than in the 30 years since the end of the Cold War”, said Peter Ricketts in Prospect magazine.

This announcement was particularly significant because Germany has long resisted pressure from the US and Western allies to raise its defence spending to 2% “in the light of its 20th century history and resulting strong pacifism among its population”, explained Reuters. 

Pressure from across political spectrum

Calls for the PM to increase the UK’s defence spending have come from all sides. 

Last weekend, former Conservative defence secretary Michael Fallon told The Sunday Telegraph that the case for more spending was now “unanswerable”. The same day, John Healey, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that he expected to see a “big boost to defence” in the forthcoming budget and that the government “must respond to increased threats to our security in Europe”.

A YouGov tracker which looks at the most important issues facing the country, including health, education and the environment, has shown a rise in interest in defence and security in recent weeks, and has doubled from March 2021 to February 2022. 

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/defence/956006/uk-defence-spending