‘Defence needs NHS budget’
BRITAIN should spend as much on the Armed Forces as it does on the NHS, the defence minister has said, warning that the UK is taking “security for granted”.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Tobias Ellwood said Britain’s military capability was more important than ever at such a “dangerous” time, with Russia and China “rewriting the rule book” – and that once it was reduced, “you never get it back”. The minister said that during the Cold War the government gave equal weight to both budgets. However, health spending now makes up 9.8 per cent of national income, while defence spending accounts for just 2 per cent.
He said: “You go back to the Seventies and Eighties and there was a parity between defence spending compared
with health and education – and today we have dropped back to 2 per cent.
“The Government often does what people call for. If people call for more money for schools and hospitals, that is often where the money flows. It is important we raise the profile of the dangers of reducing our defence posture. Once you lose it, you will never get it back. I am deeply concerned we have a nation which is fully appreciative of our Armed Forces but which takes our security for granted.
“The world is getting more danger- ous. Britain must be able to step forward – we will only do that if we invest in the full spectrum of capabilities. That is why we must increase our defence spending.”
He did not specify what the budget should be, jockingly saying: “the civil servants would kill me”, but he added: “We cannot continue with our defence posture under the current arrangements.” Mr Ellwood also spoke in support of Woody Johnson, the US ambassador, who this week said Britain should be ready to increase defence spending to ensure its security – even at the expense of other departments. Boosting the defence budget will bring economic growth, which will “create more money for other departments”, Mr Ellwood argued.
He today unveils a memorial for victims of terrorism overseas. The Prince of Wales will join him in opening the tribute, called Still Water, in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffs. The minister, who was elected Conservative MP for Bournemouth East in 2005, hopes the memorial will help counter the “twisted and barbaric” message spread by extremists and to create a “place of reflection” for the families of victims.
He first proposed the memorial to David Cameron following the death of David Haines, the aid worker who was beheaded by Islamic State in 2014. “I realised his family will have no grave to mourn him, there will be no place to put flowers on, there will be nowhere to reflect on his life,” Mr Ellwood said.
Each year, he takes his sons to place flowers on his brother’s grave each year on his birthday. Jonathan Ellwood was killed in the Bali bombing in 2002.
Last year, Mr Ellwood was praised for his heroism during the terrorist attack on Westminster, when he tried in vain to save the life of PC Keith Palmer after he was stabbed on duty at the gates of the Palace of Westminster.