Westminster reacts to Rishi Sunak’s defence spending pledge; ex-defence secretary Ben Wallace tells Sky News “not everyone wants to be prime minister” after being asked why he stepped down despite once being tipped for Number 10.
Wednesday 24 April 2024 10:49, UK
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A government pledge to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP will serve as an “extremely important” deterrent, former defence secretary Sir Liam Fox tells Sky News.
“It’s important that those who would threaten the United Kingdom, whether that’s the Iranians or the Russians or the Chinese, understand that we have a commitment to improving not only our own spending in the United Kingdom, but our commitment to NATO,” he says.
“And it’s that collective nature of deterrence, which is extremely important.”
Yesterday, prime minister Rishi Sunak promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
The government said the commitment amounted to an additional £75bn in funding over the next six years.
Earlier, defence secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News he wants to ensure the UK’s industrial production is “on a war footing”, saying “we’re living in a more dangerous world” (see post at 07.37am).
Mr Shapps also said he wants to see NATO’s target for defence increase to 2.5% of GDP – up from 2%.
He said it would make a “real difference” if the countries signed up to the military alliance met his proposed target.
Read more here:
We have been reporting this morning that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Berlin today for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (see post at 06.50am).
In his absence, the deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden will face deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner in Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon.
We will be bringing you all the key points from PMQs here from 12pm.
Join us …
Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to former Labour minister and crossbench peer Lord Frank Field, describing him as “principled and courageous”.
Lord Field has died at the age of 81 after a period of illness.
The Labour leader described his death as a “profound loss to politics and to our nation”.
“Frank dedicated his life to being a voice for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the country, Sir Keir said.
“Frank was principled, courageous and independent-minded. He cared about the people he served, thought deeply about the issues he championed, and worked entirely for the good of the people of Birkenhead as their MP for 40 years.
“His honour and integrity were well known and admired.”
Lord Field was a member of parliament for Birkenhead between 1979 and 2019, during which time he served as minister for welfare reform.
He also chaired the Commons work and pensions select committee.
He entered the Lords in 2020 and was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2022 New Year Honours.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has remembered the late MP as a “great parliamentarian, crusader for social justice and source of wise counsel”, while former home secretary Priti Patel praised his “unwavering moral compass, commitment to working cross-party and unshakable principles”.
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In case you missed it earlier, defence secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News he “would not be able to spend” 3% of GDP on defence “very quickly”.
He was responding to comments made by Colonel Simon Diggins on Sky News yesterday, who said defence spending should be closer to 3%, rather than the 2.5% pledged by the government by 2030 (see post at 06.35am).
“I can tell you as an absolute fact, if you gave me 3% of GDP to spend on defence tomorrow very quickly, I would not be able to spend that in any other way than buying equipment from abroad.
“So I would have to go to America and other places. They probably couldn’t supply it because the global defence industrial base wasn’t expanding quickly enough to deal with the enormous requirements in Ukraine.
“And so I wouldn’t be able to spend the money, is the simple answer, and certainly not domestically.”
He adds that the government wants to expand the UK’s industrial base for defence productions, particularly for munitions, rather than buy from abroad.
Speaking to Sky News a short time later, former defence secretary Ben Wallace said he thinks his successor is “right”.
“I think government always has to be careful it doesn’t just announce dollops of cash or dollops of policy without thinking through the delivery. And you can’t grow people on trees, you can’t build ships overnight.
“What really matters to the department [of defence] when it makes its plans for the military is that there is a long term sustainable projection of growth.”
By David Blevins, senior Ireland correspondent
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, will appear in court this morning charged with rape and other historical sex offences.
The 61-year-old, who is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP, was suspended by the party following his arrest last month.
In a statement at the time, the DUP said: “The Party Chairman has received a letter from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature and indicating that he is stepping down as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect.
“In accordance with the Party Rules, the Party Officers have suspended Mr Donaldson from membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process.”
In his resignation letter, he said he would be strenuously contesting the charges.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had been arrested at his home in County Down the previous morning and taken to Antrim Police Station for questioning.
Read more here:
With a general election looming, what counts as gains and losses for the main parties in next week’s locals?
Sky’s election analyst Michael Thrasher tells us what to look out for:
By Daniel Dunford, senior data journalist
There might not be a general election just yet, but there are important votes that will define how the areas around us are run for the next four years.
See what’s happening where you are here:
Labour’s shadow attorney general tells Sky News her party wants to “move towards” the government’s 2.5% spending pledge as and when they come to power.
But she says Labour won’t commit to the government’s 2030 target “unless there’s a plan that makes sense”.
Yesterday, prime minister Rishi Sunak promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
The government said the commitment amounted to an additional £75bn in funding over the next six years.
“When circumstances allow … we want to move towards 2.5%,” Emily Thornberry says.
But she says: “You wouldn’t expect me to come on and say that we could spend £75bn by 2030 without having a plan as to where we were going to get the money from.”
She says the government’s document on defence spending doesn’t contain a “single word about how they were going to pay for it”, adding “it’s just gimmick”.
Her comments row back on claims made by Labour’s shadow environment secretary, who told Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge yesterday that Labour is aiming to match the current government’s figure by the end of the decade (see post at 7.11pm).
“Labour would want to match that,” Steve Reed said.
“I think what we see is escalating threats to the security of our country, and the primary objective of any government surely is the defence of the realm.”
But, he adds: “We need to look and see how Rishi Sunak is proposing to fund this so we can take a view on it.
“So the right thing to do would be, take a step back, have a look at those numbers when they come out and assess the feasibility of what he’s saying.”
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry has outlined how Labour plans to increase the number of community police officers by 13,000 should the party win the next election.
“There is some really important policing that isn’t being done at the moment,” she tells Sky News.
Explaining how Labour will fund the increase, she says: “The 43 police services all buy their staff individually, which is just extraordinary.
“So you’ll get one police force spending £20 on a police baton, another police force spending £120.
“It’s madness,” she says.
She says the independent Police Foundation has estimated £700m could be saved if police forces work together to make purchases.
To be “on the conservative side,” she says Labour has committed to spending half of that to “get the increase in the number of police officers that we all know that we need”.
She says the job of the additional 13,000 community police officers will be to be in town centres, “dealing with shoplifting, dealing antisocial behaviour, drug dealing”.
The former defence secretary Ben Wallace tells Sky News “not everyone wants to be prime minister” as he is questioned on why he stepped down, despite once being tipped for the top job.
Explaining his decision, he says simply: “I don’t want to do it”.
“I served my country in the Army, I did defence secretary. I don’t think people would question my duty.
“I loved being able to contribute, but it has to come to an end.
“I didn’t want to be prime minister.
“I personally didn’t like the sort of security and everything I had to have, and it remains forever with prime ministers and former prime ministers,” he adds.
“And I don’t really like much of the celebrity. I don’t even really like being recognised in a shop. So I think I’ll leave that for somebody else.”
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