Hunt: Europe must match UK on defence

Chancellor says Germany and France must ramp up military spending to send clear message to Putin

EUROPEAN nations including France and Germany must “step up to the plate” and match the UK’S defence spending plans, Jeremy Hunt has said.

The Chancellor issued the Government’s sternest rebuke yet to Nato countries failing to pull their weight. He was speaking during a visit to Kyiv after ministers unveiled a £500 million weapons package for Ukraine including long-range missiles.

Rishi Sunak announced on a visit to Poland this week that Britain will increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP – or £87 billion a year – by 2030. The Prime Minister said the commitment represented a “new benchmark” and that he would lobby Nato allies to match it at a summit in July.

Mr Hunt went further yesterday, insisting that other European nations had a duty to adopt the same stance to send a message to Russia.

“It is time for European nations to step up to the plate and meet the benchmark we are setting,” he said. “If all other European Nato nations followed our lead and matched our 2.5 per cent guarantee, that would boost our collective defence spending by £140billion. There could be no clearer message to Vladimir Putin that we will not let him win.”

The Nato target for defence spending is 2per cent of GDP, although only 11 of the alliance’s 32 members met that goal last year. France spent 1.9 per cent of its GDP on its military last year, whilst Germany committed 1.6 per cent, according to figures published by Nato. Britain is on course to spend just over 2.3 per cent this year and has set out a pathway to increase that to 2.5 per cent by the start of the 2030s.

Donald Trump claimed in February that he would let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” to Nato members that are not meeting the 2 per cent target. The former US president is running for a second term, prompting concerns over future US support for Nato.

Mr Sunak warned on Wednesday that Europe must ramp up defence spending to keep the US “committed” to Nato.

This week the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorising $60 billion (£48 billion) of military aid for Ukraine. But the pledge was contentious with some Republicans, led by Mr Trump, opposing it until the migration crisis at the southern border was fixed.

Mr Hunt said that the UK’S defence spending uplift had only proved possible because the UK has “got our own house in order” on its public finances.

The Chancellor said that the drop in inflation to its lowest level in almost two and a half years showed that “the economy is turning a corner after the shocks of recent years”.

“Britain’s commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030 shows we take our role as leaders on the world stage seriously,” he added. “This is at a time when autocratic states like Russia, Iran and China increasingly work together to threaten our collective security.”

He also defended his plans to pay for the uplift by cutting the civil service to pre-covid levels shedding 70,000 jobs which will free up £2.9bn.

“It is time to drive down costs and focus on a leaner, more effective workforce,” he said.

‘It is time for European nations to step up and meet the benchmark we are setting’