Country’s security will be a key election issue, Cameron says

FOREIGN Secretary Lord David Cameron said the safety of the nation will be a key choice for voters at the general election.

The former prime minister said “security will be on the ballot paper” when Rishi Sunak calls the election later this year.

He said the Tory commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence by 2030 was in stark contrast to Labour’s “bunch of people who’ve got no plan”.

Answering questions following a speech in central London he said: “To me, security is definitely on the ballot paper.

“If you ask me ‘what’s the most important thing we can do right now as a country’, it is to enhance our security – that is to spend more on defence, to build up our alliances, to work with our partners, to seek out allies, to harden defences at home, to protect ourselves against cyber (attacks), to invest in our intelligence services.

“All of these things are about recognising the world’s changed fundamentally compared with a decade ago and the biggest need, in my view, is security.

“I would broaden that because, fundamentally, security to me, is the most conservative value of all.

“People care about their financial security, they care about their job security, they care about the security that they have in their lives.

“And so at this time of international danger, there’s never been a clearer time to say security is what matters most and it’s what the Government is focused on.”

Labour has committed to move to 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence when the public finances allow and would carry out a full defence review if Sir Keir Starmer wins power.

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy has hinted that Labour’s policy could result in 2.5 per cent being reached sooner than the Tory 2030 target.

And Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey has stressed that Labour is totally committed to 2.5 per cent, a level of spending that Lord Cameron inherited when he became prime minister in 2010 but subsequently cut.

But Lord Cameron said: “Labour have not matched the 2.5 per cent, so there’s going to be a very clear choice at the election: if you are worried about the dangerous world, if you want Britain to have strong defences, if you want a government that’s absolutely committed to it and has set out a timetable: here are the guys with a plan.”