Minister Admits ‘More Will Have To Be Spent On Defence’ Amid Rising International Pressures

A cabinet minister has admitted that “more will have to be spent on defence” in the UK.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that the government’s spending review, set to conclude in June, will lay out the “roadmap” for increasing funds in the sector.

He told Sky News: “The whole cabinet, the whole government, most people in this country, recognise the pressures the world is under, recognise more will have to be spent on defence.

“The spending review will set out the roadmap towards that target.”

His comments follow US president Donald Trump’s call for all Nato member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP.

Right now, member states only have to spend 2%. The UK currently spends 2.3% of its GDP on defence.

Labour has pledged to raise it to 2.5% but has not offered a clear time frame for that increase.

The pressure is particularly high for the European members of the defence alliance due to the Ukraine war.

Trump hopes to bring the conflict to a rapid conclusion by negotiating directly with Russia and only consulting Europe over its decisions.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has subsequently warned that Vladimir Putinwill be “preparing for war against Nato countries next year” – unless there are sufficient security guarantees for Kyiv included in any peace deal.

Asked if chancellor Rachel Reeves would be happy forking out this extra cash after she pushed all departments to cut down on spending, Reynolds replied: “The chancellor knows more than most people the pressures on public services across the board.

“Defence has to be the cornerstone for our national prosperity and our national security.”

He added that the last time the UK managed to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence was under a Labour government, and claimed: “This is something that is very much in the DNA of the Labour movement, something we take very very seriously.

“I know the challenges are real but the pressures on defence are real as well.”

Presenter Trevor Phillips said: “Everything you’ve just said to me says pretty clearly that the united cabinet – of which you have just spoken – expects there to be an increase in defence spending and expects the chancellor, when she comes back to present her plan, they expect to see more money going into defence than there currently is.” 

“We will set out that roadmap – we have already put more money into defence in the first Budget of this government,” the minister replied.