Daily Mail

We’ve been living a lie on military spending, warns ex defence chief

- By Jemma Buckley Defence Reporter j.buckley@dailymail.co.uk

BRITAIN has a defence programme which is ‘wholly unaffordab­le’ and the public has been ‘deluded’ over defence plans, the former head of the Armed Forces has warned.

In a rare interventi­on, General Lord Houghton of Richmond said that Britain is ‘living a lie’ and admitted ‘Herculean assumption­s’ had been made over spending while he was chief of defence staff.

In his first broadcast interview since leaving the post in 2016, Lord Houghton said: ‘To be honest we have slightly deluded the public of late that we have a defence programme which the insiders know is unaffordab­le. So we are, to an extent, living a lie.

‘We stand at a strategic crossroads. We have got to come off the fence one way or another.

‘It might be, and it is a wholly worthy opinion, that the United Kingdom should cease to be a world military power. We stand in a period where, to be honest, our sense of national identity and credibilit­y is wobbling.

‘We need to make a strategic decision that flows from government about what sort of a place and a country the UK wants to be going forward.

‘To me that is best served as a global Britain, as a strong military power, as a good alliance member, as a friend to many, as a country that will help secure the stability of the world.’ The former military chief also warned Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson not to use the issue of defence spending as ‘part of a political game for power and ambition’.

A report by MPs yesterday said defence spending should be raised from its current level of about 2 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent, so Britain can maintain its influence with the US and in Nato. Lord Houghton said the spending boost, was equal to £20billion.

He also said it was ‘quite remarkable’ the Government has increased spending for the NHS by £20billion adding: ‘More funding for health can win you, dare I say it, tactical advantage in domestic elections but they don’t enhance Britain’s influence power and respect in the world if that is the sort of country we want to be.’

The current defence programme, set out in David Cameron’s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, took place while he was chief of the defence staff.

He said the review was based on ‘Herculean assumption­s’ about economic growth and ‘alchemic ideas’ to find efficienci­es.

Mrs May’s spokesman yesterday said that retired senior officers were ‘perfectly entitled to contribute to this debate.’

He added: ‘We have a commitment to 2 per cent (of GDP) funding on defence and a commitment to a 0.5 per cent increase in real terms each year. We have a commitment to spending almost £180billion on equipment.’

 ??  ?? Huge assumption­s: Lord Houghton
Huge assumption­s: Lord Houghton

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