Today, as he deals with a Cabinet disagreement at home over the budget for the British Armed Forces, Boris Johnson will urge other NATO leaders to increase their defense spending.
The Prime Minister will warn of a difficult decade ahead at a meeting in Madrid, demanding that nations “dig deep” to counter the threat posed by Vladimir Putin.
He will urge the alliance to consider boosting its goal of allocating 2% of gross domestic product for defense.
However, Mr. Johnson acknowledged Friday night that he is breaking a promise he made during the previous election to raise the UK defense spending faster than inflation each year.
It puts him at odds with Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, and Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, both of whom call for significant increases in spending in reaction to the conflict in Ukraine.
Yesterday, Mr. Wallace made an astonishing statement in which he cautioned that there was a “serious risk” that Russia could “reach out” against the UK and its European allies.
The British military, according to the Defence Secretary, had to rely on a “diet of smoke and mirrors, hollowed-out formations, and imaginary savings” for a length of time.
He emphasized that by 2028, the UK’s defense spending should increase from 2% to 2.5%, or by an additional £10 billion annually.
When questioned about Mr. Wallace’s comments made in the Commons, Miss Truss responded, “I share [his] worries.” After the Cold War, the free world did not invest enough in defense, and we are now suffering as a result.
It is believed that Mr. Wallace has written a formal letter to Mr. Johnson asking for a 20% increase in defense funding to cover capacity gaps and combat the escalating threat.
The Conservative Party promised in its platform for 2019 to increase defense spending by 0.5% annually over the rate of inflation.
Government sources acknowledged that the promise will be broken because inflation is expected to reach 11% this year and the pandemic’s effects have severely harmed the public finances.
Mr. Johnson asserted yesterday that over the next five years, through 2024, expenditure will rise faster than inflation.
He defended his performance by saying that the UK has continuously met Nato’s 2% objective and was about to start discussions with other countries about raising it.
On the plane to Madrid, he made the following statement to reporters: “We’re delivering unprecedented increases in defense spending – £24 billion more [over four years] – the highest rise in defense spending since the end of the Cold War.”
The UK was the third-largest spender on defense globally in 2021, and we are now safely over the 2% mark. Currently, we are at 2.3%.
The UK spent an anticipated 2.26 percent of GDP on defense in 2021 and was on track for 2.12 percent in 2022, according to a Nato report released this week.
Mr. Johnson stated that he will invite other alliance leaders to start negotiations about boosting the 2% target, which has so far only been attained by nine of the alliance’s 30 members.
I believe we will need to have a discussion at NATO about where we proceed from here, he said.
We will bring up the topic with friends and coworkers, says the speaker.
Emmanuel Macron stated yesterday, in advance of the conference, that Russia must be permitted to win the war in Ukraine.
“I truly hope that the resolution [of the conflict] may be achieved by the end of the year,” the French president said during a press conference. “I know and I want that Russia cannot and must not prevail.”
There is just one way out, according to German chancellor Olaf Scholz: for Putin to acknowledge that his intentions for Ukraine will fail.
The decision to abandon the Conservative campaign goal of raising UK defense spending above inflation was supported by a senior government source.
“The manifesto was created before £400 billion had to be spent locking people away for their own protection due to the global pandemic,” they claimed.
The only logical thing we can anticipate is a reality check on items that were offered in a previous era.
Today, Mr. Johnson will also reveal that the UK will send more soldiers to Estonia to help bolster Nato’s eastern flank.
They will be a part of a new 300,000-person force that authorities will decide on this week to respond to any Russian incursion.