Keir must boost defence budget, says Labour lord
SIR Keir Starmer has been warned he will fail to convince voters that Labour has put the Corbyn years behind it unless he vows to boost defence spending.
One of Labour’s leading peers said it will only be considered a ‘ proper party’ if it pledges to hike defence spending in its election manifesto to at least 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Lord West of Spithead, a former First Sea Lord and security minister in Gordon Brown’s government, urged Sir Keir to outflank the Tories on defence.
Britain is currently spending around 2.3 per cent, which equates to around £52billion annually. The Conservative Government is refusing to say when it will increase this to 2.5 per cent. At present, ministers say they will only do it ‘as soon as economic conditions allow’.
Sir Keir has repeatedly boasted about leading a ‘changed party’ after taking over in 2020 from Jeremy Corbyn, who had strong links with the hard-Left disarmament movement.
Speaking to the Mail, Lord West said: ‘The most important duty of a government is the defence and security of our nation and our people. And if you’re going to do that in this world that is highly unpredictable and dangerous, with all of the warning lights flashing that Sir Keir has talked about, that means spending requisite money.
‘I’m afraid that what we’re spending at the moment is not enough. The British public – although they generally don’t like spending money on defence until suddenly it’s too late and people are dying everywhere – I actually think, with what’s going on in the world, would think, “Well this party is a proper party that means business. It’s not a Corbyn party any more, it’s a proper party”.’
He added: ‘I would like Labour to commit to 2.5 per cent, but actually we really need 3 per cent.’
The Daily Mail’s Don’t Leave Britain Defenceless campaign is calling for an immediate rise to 2.5 per cent, increasing to at least 3 per cent by 2030.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was hit with a backlash after announcing there would be no new money for defence in last month’s Budget.
Last week, the Mail revealed the Treasury did offer Defence Secretary Grant Shapps a ‘journey’ to 2.5 per cent, but that it would take up to ten years. The disclosure, by former Armed Forces minister James Heappey, sparked incredulity within the party.
Lord West’s intervention comes after a damning Daily Mail poll found voters no longer view the Tories as the party of defence.
Labour is now trusted more than the Tories on national security and defence, the survey found, by 34 per cent to 23 per cent respectively.
And more people now associate the Tories with cutting defence spending (28 per cent) rather than increasing it (26 per cent) after years of the military being ‘ hollowed out’.
However, the Government hit back last night, pointing out that its commitment to reach 2.5 per cent ‘ when the circumstances allow’ goes further than Labour’s current stance.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘Since 2010, the Conservatives hollowed our Armed Forces, shrunk the Army to its smallest size since Napoleon, wasted billions of pounds by mismanaging defence procurement and allowed morale to fall to record lows... Labour will always do what’s required to defend this country.’