It’s war! MPs turn on May over defence cuts

Up to 50 could vote against the Budget unless spending rises

DOZENS of Tory MPs could vote to block the Budget unless Theresa May increases military spending, allies of the Defence Secretary warned last night.

Gavin Williamson came under fire yesterday following reports he had told military chiefs he could bring down the Prime Minister if she refuses to back him in his fight to get an extra £2billion a year from the Treasury.

Mr Williamson, who ran Mrs May’s leadership campaign in 2016, is said to have told service chiefs: ‘I made her – and I can break her.’

One Cabinet source said last night that Mr Williamson had ‘over-reached himself’ in his efforts to burnish his credentials as a future leadership contender.

But sources close to Mr Williamson last night said they did not recognise the phrase and insisted Mrs May had ‘no stronger ally’. Friends of the Defence Secretary said he was right to go into battle for funding for the military, which has been hit by heavy cuts in recent years.

One senior Tory said that as many as 50 Tory MPs were so exercised over the issue that they could vote to block the Budget this autumn unless Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond open the purse strings.

‘There are 50 MPs who are willing to throw themselves under a bus over this,’ the source said.

‘These are people who understand defence and understand that we need to be investing more if we are going to maintain our status as a major defence power.

‘The Budget is one of the few real levers that people have got – everyone understands that.’

Another said: ‘The big story here is that there is a significant group of Tory MPs who feel passionately about this and who are prepared to back that up with action.

‘Gavin is a former chief whip – he understands the numbers and the implications for the Government’s majority.’ Mrs May is said to have caused a ‘shockwave’ last week by questioning the UK’s status as a ‘tier one’ military power in a meeting with Mr Williamson, chief of the defence staff General Sir Nick Carter and Mr Hammond.

The UK is one of a handful of tier one powers along with the United States, Russia, France and China.

Membership of the club requires ‘full spectrum’ capabilities, including a nuclear deterrent, combat jets, a navy capable of deployment anywhere in the world, intelligenceled counter- terrorism forces, cyber defences and a deployable army division capable of engaging in a land war.

Mrs May ducked a direct question about the UK’s tier one status last week, but insisted: ‘We are a leading defence nation and that will continue.’

In the coming weeks, she will face fresh calls to loosen the purse strings when she is briefed on backbench concerns by a powerful delegation comprising defence committee chairman Julian Lewis, foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat and Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories.

Dr Lewis last night warned that Mrs May could not afford to ignore backbench opinion on the issue. ‘There need be no political risk to the Prime Minister – if she does the right thing,’ he said.

‘I’ve been in parliament for 20 years and I’ve never known such unanimity. If the NHS can get an extra £ 20billion a year, then defence surely deserves one tenth of that just to stand still.’

But other Tory MPs believe Mr Williamson is stoking the row about defence spending to boost his standing in a future Tory leadership race.

In a thinly veiled swipe, which was also directed in part at Boris Johnson, former minister Nick Boles said: ‘Would it be too much to ask that senior members of the Cabinet behave like grown-ups, discuss serious issues in a serious way, and avoid running to the papers with childish threats?’

Another MP said Mr Williamson was at risk of over-playing his hand. ‘There are many who are huge defenders of the military and have been working hard to make the case to protect the deployable capability that keeps us a tier one nation,’ the MP said. ‘But there’s no way we’d break cover now to back this weaselly attack on the PM. Williamson’s intemperate and frankly bizarre media posturing shows just how unsuited he is for any high office whatsoever.’