Spending on defence will match Nato target
BRITAIN will meet the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence, the Chancellor announced yesterday.
Military chiefs applauded the decision although there are fears of ‘creative accounting’ – because intelligence spending could be included in the figures.
Crispin Blunt, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: ‘The pledge to meet the Nato target of 2 per cent of GDP on defence is not quite as profound as it appears.
‘The Government is apparently changing the way they measure defence spending to meet this important target by including expenditure outside the MoD budget, including £2.5billion on the secret intelligence agencies.’
Admiral Lord West praised the announcement but warned: ‘If this is creative accounting I would be very disappointed.’
George Osborne said the Government would spend 2 per cent of GDP on the military every year of this decade and raise the defence budget by 0.5 per cent a year in real terms. Until yesterday, ministers had not commit- ted to spending at that level beyond the current financial year – prompting pressure from backbench MPs and military chiefs.
Mr Osborne said: ‘The Prime Minister and I are not prepared to see the threats we face to both our country and our values go unchallenged.
‘Britain has always been resolute in defence of liberty and the promotion of stability around the world. And with this government it will always remain so.’
The Chancellor announced a new fund, worth up to £1.5billion a year, which will be spent on intelligence items such as cyber security and the armed forces.
But Tory MP Rory Stewart, a former chairman of the Commons defence committee, said: ‘Great budget commitment of 2 per cent on defence – it is important in a dangerous world and key to our Nato role.’
Recent figures released by Nato revealed that Britain is in line to spend 2.1 per cent of national income on defence this year. But this includes all of the £1billion cross-departmental fund known as the Conflict Pool, which is used to support fragile and wartorn states rather than military operations.
The Chief of the Defence Staff said the announcement was a ‘great day for our country’. Speaking in Downing Street, General Sir Nicholas Houghton said: ‘ What this does is give us positive choices for the future.’
Sir Michael Graydon, a former head of the RAF, said he feared the military would still face cuts, especially with a nuclear submarine programme to pay for.