MoD clashes with May over funding to keep UK a world power

THERESA May was locked in a row with the Defence Secretary last night over funding for the Armed Forces.

The Prime Minister publicly reassured the Armed Forces that Britain would remain ‘a leading defence nation’ yesterday, with a pledge to invest in conventional, cyber and nuclear capabilities.

But behind the scenes she was engaged in a tense stand-off with Gavin Williamson over defence spending.

Mr Williamson wants a commitment to increase the defence budget at next month’s Nato summit, where Donald Trump is expected to read the riot act to fellow leaders about their reliance on US military power. But at a meeting this week, Mrs May is said to have questioned what forces the UK should keep to continue being ranked as a world power.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter gave a halfhour presentation in which he set out the threats the UK faces and the new capabilities it needs to counter them.

General Carter told the PM that it was essential the UK remained a ‘tier one’ military power. Mrs May is then said to have interrupted him and asked: ‘What is a tier one power?’ Sources said Ministry of Defence officials were stunned by the question about a basic tenet of security policy.

An insider said: ‘It’s the first time a Prime Minister has actively questioned or asked for justification for operating at the level we do. It is a worry.’

Downing Street said it is untrue to suggest the UK’s tier one status is in question.

‘Stunned by the question’