'Infuriating to watch': Ex-Portsmouth MP Penny Mordaunt slams Royal Navy defence spending amid increase talks
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The prime minister is considering a rise in defence spending earlier than expected - with a former defence secretary stating she has found the government’s strategy ”infuriating to watch”.
Former Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt criticised the government’s current strategy due to a lack of urgency for funding resilience. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said Britain must “go faster” with armed forces spending.
This pledge comes on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Issuing a statement on social media, Ms Mordaunt - a former Conservative defence secretary - said: “The reality is that Defence Chiefs recognise we have a few years to modernise our armed forces. On current plans money does appear for five years.
“The PM has repeatedly said we need to invest in defence and resilience. To date he has refused to fund it ( except a small uplift to the agencies budgets) and he disbanded 750,000 resilience volunteers. There are smarter ways to fund this and deal with our debt. Infuriating to watch.”
Labour has already committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP next year and three per cent after the next election. The BBC reports that Sir Keir is now mulling bringing forward the three per cent target to 2029.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), said there is a “moral” case for rearming to counter the threat against Russia. Sir Keir would not confirm that he was considering bringing forward the target, but said Europe needed to “step up when it comes to defence and security”.
“We have a threat of Russian aggression. In a few days’ time it’s the four-year anniversary of the start of the conflict in Ukraine,” he added. “We want a just and lasting peace, but that will not extinguish the Russian threat, and we need to be alert to that, because that’s going to affect every single person in this room, every single person in this country, so we need to step up. That means on defence spending, we need to go faster.”
Sir Keir added that, as well as increasing spending, improving Britain’s defence also involved collaborating with “like-minded countries, particularly in Europe”, following his call at the Munich Security Conference for a shift towards “a more European Nato”. While the government has announced its plan to spend more on defence, it is yet to publish its delayed “defence investment plan” setting out how it will meet its commitments.
The CDS issued a joint call with his German counterpart for a “step change in our defence and security”. Warning that Russia had “shifted decisively westward”, the pair said Europe “must now confront uncomfortable truths about its security”. The Royal Navy has responded to several sightings of Russian warships this year alone.
Writing in The Guardian and Die Welt, they said: “There is a moral dimension to this endeavour. Rearmament is not warmongering; it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace. Strength deters aggression. Weakness invites it.”
Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: “For all the prime minister’s tough talk in Munich, there is still no concrete action. Starmer can masquerade all he likes on the world stage, but until he publishes the long-overdue defence investment plan and shows he can stand up to his left-wing backbenchers, talk of three per cent defence spending is nothing more than a pipedream.
“Only the Conservatives have a credible plan to truly stand up for our brave armed forces and veterans, and deliver the funding, clarity and long-term investment they deserve.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Media speculation today, and the prime minister’s statement at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, surely indicate that the government is done with dithering on defence. At last.
“The delays on the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) have already put thousands of UK defence jobs in jeopardy. The chancellor could use her Spring Statement to relax the so-called fiscal rules to borrow to invest in British defence and British jobs.
“The German government is already taking action on these lines. Our workers have the skills and experience to deliver for the British economy. Treasury ‘bean counting’, which is blocking action, must be ditched now. It’s time for decisive action to back Britain’s defence workers. Further delay will prove disastrous.”