Defence 2pc target ‘should be just the start’

BRITAIN’S pledge to spend two per cent of GDP on the military should be “a base” rather than “a ceiling”, the new Defence Secretary has said as he prepares for a Treasury showdown.

Gavin Williamson used his Dispatch Box debut to announce he was sending more troops to Afghanistan and to warn against a tendency “to think that the world is a much safer place than it actually is”.

Conservative MPS, meanwhile, lined up to tell him he must urge the Chancellor to “dig deep” to stave off Armed Forces cuts. He is expected to meet Mr Hammond this week to call for an extra £2 billion a year to prevent a fresh round of potentially devastating cuts.

Theresa May was also warned she faces a major Tory rebellion unless Philip Hammond can be persuaded to find extra funds for the defence budget.

Mr Williamson used defence questions in the Commons to announce the UK would bow to pressure from Donald Trump and reinforce its detachment of military trainers and advisers bolstering Afghan forces. An extra 60 troops will be sent to the country, on top of 85 deployed earlier this year, taking the total to around 650. Washington had complained its allies were not doing enough to back America’s plan to raise troop levels.

Defence chiefs fear they will be forced into more deep cuts after a major review by Mark Sedwill, the national security adviser, concluded it was more important to increase funding to fight cyber-attacks than bolster the Armed Forces.