Sunak and Truss need to up their game on defence

With defence spending becoming a debating issue in the Conservative leadership election, some might ask why either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss should be expected to spend time on the subject when it is generally held that there are no votes on military matters.

Self-evidently, the war in Ukraine has brought the issue forward but the discussion is being couched within the context of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. Within the review, much was made of investing in novel forms of warfare and a geographic tilt in policy towards the Indo-pacific region.

Hardly had the UK Carrier Strike force returned to Portsmouth last summer than the precipitate withdrawal from Afghanistan played its part in emboldening Vladimir Putin to make his attack on Ukraine in the belief that the West was lacking in leadership and resolve. A land war in Europe has been a sharp wake-up call, prompting a re-examination of our level of defence spending and the balance of expenditure between our maritime, land and air environments.

Given the increase in forward deterrent deployments by British forces to eastern European and Baltic states that have a common border with Russia, the overall size and capability of our army needs to be expanded.

The planned cuts to British Army numbers must be stopped, our main battle tank and armoured infantry units must be increased and be better equipped, while crucially there must be rapid investment in our field and air defence artillery.

Of course, an emphasis on new technologies is to be welcomed. But a brutal land war in Europe demonstrates that there is still a need for well-equipped and trained boots on the ground to both deter future aggression or to defeat an enemy. To the Conservative leadership candidates I say: 3 per cent of GDP should be our defence expenditure.