Sunak says defence spending in UK will be put on ‘war footing’
Sunak says he has three priorities for defence spending.
First, he says defence spending in the UK will be put “on a war footing’.
One of the central lessons of the war in Ukraine is that we need deeper stockpiles of munitions and for industry to be able to replenish them more quickly.
So today we’re giving them £10bn pounds in munitions support to give industry long-term funding certainty, backed by long-term contracts, so that they can produce more, be ready to surge capacity, and to move to always-on production when required.
Key events
Q: [To Stoltenberg] How assured are you by Sunak’s defence announcement when polls suggest he will lose the election? Have you been talking to Labour?
Sunak says he does not want Stoltenberg to answer that, because it would not be right to draw him into domestic politics.
(This comes across as patronising. Stoltenberg, who was PM of Norway for eight years, is more than capable of deciding what is and is not appropriate for him to say about another country’s domestic politics.)
Instead Sunak uses this a chance to take a pop at Labour, saying at the election it will be a choice between him and someone who campaigned to make Jeremy Corbyn prime minister.
Corbyn “wanted to leave Nato, get rid of our nuclear deterrent and turn the army into the peace corps”, Sunak says, quoting policies that were never advocated by Corbyn when he was Labour leader.
Sunak also says multiple members of the shadow cabinet voted to get rid of Trident.
Q: Do you think the way DWP withdraws all carers allowance from people who breach the earning limit even by a small amount is fair? Several former DWP secretaries have said this is a scandal?
This is a scandal that has been highlighted by the Guardian.
Sunak says people wants a welfare system that is fair.
Trump’s election unlikely to stop US being a strong supporter of Nato, Stoltenberg suggests
Q: Are you ready to take Britain to war if Russian troops put one boot in this country?
Sunak says the UK’s contribution to Nato is unequivocal.
He says the crisis in the Middle East should not lead to countries ignoring the threat from Russia in Ukraine.
It is vital to ensure President Putin is not successful, he says.
Q: [To Stoltenberg] Do you look forward to working with Donald Trump again? It was tricky last time?
Stoltenberg says a strong Nato is good for Nato, “but also good for the United States”.
He says, regardless of who wins the US presidential election, he expects the US to remain a staunch and loyal ally.
There are three reasons for this, he says.
First, he says it is in the interests of the US to have the support of more than 30 allies.
Second, he says there is broad support for Nato membership allies in the US.
And, third, the US criticism of Nato has not been criticism of Nato allies; it has been criticism of them for not spending enough on defence. And that is changing, he says.
He says in 2014 only three Nato allies spent more than 2% of GDP on defence. This year two thirds of Nato countries, 20 or perhaps even more, will be reaching that target, he says.
Sunak and Stoltenberg are now taking questions.
Q: Does this mean the peace dividend is over, and that the days of more money being available for schools and hospitals are over?
Sunak says: “I wouldn’t characterise it in exactly that way.”
He claims the government can afford this because his policies have focused on delivering a strong economy.
Here is Pippa Crerar’s story about Sunak’s announcement that he will raise defence spending to 2.5%.
Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato general secretary, says Rishi Sunak’s defence spending announcement confirms the vital role the UK plays in the alliance. “Once again, the UK is leading by example,” he says.
Suank is wrapping up now.
To conclude, we did not choose this moment, but it falls to us to meet it.
In a world of increasing threats, we must show our enemies that we are resolute and determined, that their attempts to destabilise our world or redraw its borders by force will fail, [and that] with our friends and our allies we will be at the forefront of the defence of the free democratic world.
Sunak says his second priority is to prioritise innovation and new technology.
And his third priority is to support Ukraine for the long term.
The costs of failing to support Ukraine now will be far greater than the costs of repelling Putin. Because only if he fails will he and other adversaries be deterred.
And that is why the United Kingdom, whose history of standing up to dictators is so much part of our national consciousness, has come together with our allies to stand with Ukraine from the very start.
Sunak says defence spending in UK will be put on ‘war footing’
Sunak says he has three priorities for defence spending.
First, he says defence spending in the UK will be put “on a war footing’.
One of the central lessons of the war in Ukraine is that we need deeper stockpiles of munitions and for industry to be able to replenish them more quickly.
So today we’re giving them £10bn pounds in munitions support to give industry long-term funding certainty, backed by long-term contracts, so that they can produce more, be ready to surge capacity, and to move to always-on production when required.
Sunak says he has fully funded plan to raise defence spending, every year, to 2.5% of GDP by 2030
Sunak says 16,000 troops have been deployed in Europe this year. And the RAF and the Royal Navy have new equipment, he says.
But Britain cannot be complacent, he says.
Britain must do more. So today he is announcing “the biggest strengthening of our national defence for a generation”. He goes on:
We will increase defence spending to a new baseline of 2.5% of GDP by 2030. That starts today, and rises steadily in each and every year.
Over the next six years we’ll invest an additional £75bn pounds in our defence and it will be fully funded, with no increase in borrowing or debt.
So this is not some vague aspiration for the future. We have a clear plan for what will spend, when will spend it, and how we pay for it.
Sunak holds press conference with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg
Rishi Sunak is holding a press conference at a military base in Poland with Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general.
Sunak starts by saying his first duty is national security. And he thanks the servicemen and women he is addressing for what they do.
The world is becoming more dangerous, he says.
Countries like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are “increasingly assertive”, he says.
The danger they pose is not new. What is new is that these countries and their proxies are causing more instability … in more places at once. And they’re increasingly acting together, making common cause and an attempt to reshape the world order.
