THE COST OF DEFENCE
Two-thirds of Britain’s spending on military operations goes towards fighting Isis
THE UK government has slashed its spending on defence by more than a fifth in six years.
Official figures from the Ministry of Defence reveal that in 2016/17, the defence budget dropped to £35.3bn.
That’s a 21 per cent decrease from the £44.9bn spent on defence in 2009/10.
It is also down £600 million on the figure spent in 2015/16.
The UK’s defence budget is the amount of money given by the government to raising and maintaining the armed forces and the security of the country.
It can be spent on various aspects of defence.
The amount spent specifically on military operations was £666 million in 2016/17.
That compares to £4.2bn in 2009/10 - a figure that was inflated by the UK’s involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan.
Of the £666 million spent on military operations in 2016/17, nearly two-thirds - £432 million - went on anti-Isis operations. That is nearly double the £217 million spent on anti-Isis operations in 2015/16. The UK is part of a global coalition of 74 countries using military action against the terror group. British taxpayers’ money is spent preventing foreign terrorist fighters crossing borders, supporting stabilisation in areas liberated from Isis and providing military support to local forces.
In 2016/17, a further £70 million was spent on the conflict in Afghanistan, while £23 million was spent on something called the “deployed military assistance pool”.
That is a pot of cash reserved for rapid-response operations around the globe.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson recently announced a package of measures aimed at modernising the armed forces.
He told the House of Commons: “Protecting the UK and our people remains our first priority and responsibility. “As the threats we face become more complex and intertwined, we will need to work ever more closely with our NATO allies. “We can also expect to remain actively involved with our partners in the Gulf in tackling shared threats to our security, and the Asia-Pacific region will become more important to us in the years ahead.”