Wednesday 11 July 2018

The level of UK defence spendin


I wholeheartedly agree with you that the defence of the realm, our overseas territories and our interests around the globe, is the first priority of any government. As a leading global power, the UK has a responsibility to sustain our armed forces so that they can carry out this vital task.

I was re-elected in 2017 to represent the people of St Austell and Newquay on a manifesto that binds the Government to not only meet the NATO commitment to spend at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence, but also increase the defence budget by at least 0.5 per cent above inflation in every year of the 2017-19 Parliament.

We currently have the biggest annual defence budget in Europe, the second largest in NATO, and the fifth largest in the world.

Between 2016 and 2026, the Ministry of Defence has been allocated £178 billion to planned expenditure on equipment and support, including £44 billion on submarines and trident missiles, £24.6 billion on combat and support aircrafts, £19 billion on ships and £13.5 billion on weapons. New equipment to cope with 21st century threats include nuclear Dreadnought submarines to maintain continuous at sea patrols, digital armoured vehicles, and two new aircraft carriers - the most powerful ships ever built in Britain – with 5th generation F-35s to fly from them.

As your local MP I will continue to support the Government on bills and measures in Parliament that will strengthen our armed forces and defence capabilities, and speak up and vote against any proposals aiming to achieve the opposite.