| Increase in defence spending 22:09 - Feb 25 with 351 views | raynor94 |
To 2.5% of gdp, to be paid for by a cut in overseas aid, about time too, UK citizens come first |  |
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| Increase in defence spending on 23:34 - Feb 25 with 294 views | max936 |
Bit late they should have been more focused on our defence over the last 10/15 yrs or more and it should be 3%, we've given weaponry worth billions to Ukraine as well.
Trump is destabilising NATO so GB and Europe can't rely on the US. [Post edited 26 Feb 17:03]
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| Increase in defence spending on 09:08 - Feb 26 with 210 views | Boundy |
We've had over 30 years of a decline in the amount successive governments has spent on defence and overall we have a history of little investment in our defence capabilities going back to just after the 1st world war and yet again when threatened we find ourselves playing catchup .Hopefully its not a case of too little too late. |  |
| "In a free society, the State is the servant of the people—not the master." |
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| Increase in defence spending on 09:17 - Feb 26 with 206 views | Boundy |
But then we have this
"Sir Keir Starmer has said he will raise defence spending to 2.5pc of GDP by reducing overseas aid by 0.2pc of GDP, claiming this equates to an extra £13bn - House of Commons
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will raise defence spending to 2.5pc of GDP by reducing overseas aid by 0.2pc of GDP, claiming this equates to an extra £13bn - House of Commons
Sir Keir Starmer’s claim that he will spend an extra £13.4bn a year defending Britain is “misleading”, economists have warned.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said raising the defence budget from 2.3pc to 2.5pc of GDP involved a comparable increase of less than half this amount.
The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday that he would meet a commitment to spend 2.5pc on defence by 2027, maintaining this level for the rest of the parliament.
He said the increase will be funded by a cut to the overseas aid budget, which will be reduced from 0.5pc of GDP to 0.3pc.
Sir Keir told the Commons: “That means spending £13.4bn more on defence every year from 2027.”
However, Ben Zaranko, of the IFS, branded the Prime Minister’s claim misleading. This is because the £13.4bn increase effectively assumes defence spending will be frozen in cash terms over the next two years.
Paul Johnson, the think tank’s director, accused Sir Keir of “playing silly games with numbers”.
Under the Nato definition that assumes a defence budget of £66.3bn this year, this would imply spending slipping to less than 2.2pc of GDP in 2026 to 2027 if frozen in cash terms. Donald Trump, the US president, has called for Nato countries to spend 5pc of GDP on defence.
Mr Zaranko compared the inflated figure with Rishi Sunak’s claim last year that he was pumping an “additional £75bn” into defence spending. This also assumed that spending would be frozen in cash terms over six years, an improbable assumption that risked leaving the UK shy of its 2pc Nato target as a share of the economy.
He said: “The Prime Minister followed in the steps of the last government by announcing a misleadingly large figure for the ‘extra’ defence spending this announcement entails. An extra 0.2pc of GDP is around £6bn, and this is the size of the cut to the aid budget. Yet he trumpeted a £13bn increase in defence spending.
“This figure only seems to make sense if one thinks the defence budget would otherwise have been frozen in cash terms. This is of course dwarfed by the significance of today’s announcement but is frustrating none the less.”
The Prime Minister also committed to raising defence spending to 3pc of GDP in the next parliament, hailing it as “the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War”.
Sir Keir suggested that more spending would be pulled into the Nato defence budget in order to reach the new 3pc goal, which could require tens of billions of tax rises or spending cuts in the next parliament.
He said the definition of defence spending will be “updated” to “recognise the incredible contribution of our intelligence and security services to the defence of the nation, which means, taken together, we will be spending 2.6pc on defence by 2027”.
George Osborne, the former chancellor, deployed a similar accounting shift in the 2010s. He moved pensions spending, UN peacekeeping and some intelligence spending into the Nato definition. Had he not, the UK would have been just shy of the 2pc target for most of the 2010s. | |
| "In a free society, the State is the servant of the people—not the master." |
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| Increase in defence spending on 10:28 - Feb 26 with 183 views | union_jack |
I was watching some lunatic SNP MP on TV last night saying how wrong this was and that developing nations need this aid blah blah. These are exceptional times requiring exceptional measure and our spend in defence needs to be increased.
If we can increase our defence Europe wide it will also mean less of a dependency on the USA as Trump is trying to push for. That’s got to be good for this continent ultimately.
Oh, and that SNP MP said that we should manage increased defence spending and maintain overseas aid. When asked how, she said we could scrap Trident  |  |
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| Increase in defence spending on 10:39 - Feb 26 with 173 views | Boundy |
| Increase in defence spending on 10:28 - Feb 26 by union_jack |
I was watching some lunatic SNP MP on TV last night saying how wrong this was and that developing nations need this aid blah blah. These are exceptional times requiring exceptional measure and our spend in defence needs to be increased.
If we can increase our defence Europe wide it will also mean less of a dependency on the USA as Trump is trying to push for. That’s got to be good for this continent ultimately.
Oh, and that SNP MP said that we should manage increased defence spending and maintain overseas aid. When asked how, she said we could scrap Trident |
What is it with these left wing loonies , scrap Trident was Corbyn's mantra . The problem in Scotland is that now Labour are doing so poorly support for the SNP is growing and with it more calls for independence will again be heard .
How can India or Pakistan be described as developing nations , the only thing their developing is the ability to shoot huge fireworks into space , at our expense. | |
| "In a free society, the State is the servant of the people—not the master." |
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| Increase in defence spending on 10:40 - Feb 26 with 173 views | onehunglow |
| Increase in defence spending on 10:28 - Feb 26 by union_jack |
I was watching some lunatic SNP MP on TV last night saying how wrong this was and that developing nations need this aid blah blah. These are exceptional times requiring exceptional measure and our spend in defence needs to be increased.
If we can increase our defence Europe wide it will also mean less of a dependency on the USA as Trump is trying to push for. That’s got to be good for this continent ultimately.
Oh, and that SNP MP said that we should manage increased defence spending and maintain overseas aid. When asked how, she said we could scrap Trident |
Yes but Scotland doesn't need defence
Nobody would invade as it's a peace loving nation with no colonial guilt
Same with Wales
It might also help neither country has any worth to invade | |
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| Increase in defence spending on 15:42 - Feb 26 with 124 views | JACKMANANDBOY |
| Increase in defence spending on 10:40 - Feb 26 by onehunglow |
Yes but Scotland doesn't need defence
Nobody would invade as it's a peace loving nation with no colonial guilt
Same with Wales
It might also help neither country has any worth to invade |
But we've got wind, people will invade us and steal our wind.
🙂 [Post edited 26 Feb 15:44]
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| Increase in defence spending on 15:48 - Feb 26 with 111 views | JACKMANANDBOY |
| Increase in defence spending on 10:39 - Feb 26 by Boundy |
What is it with these left wing loonies , scrap Trident was Corbyn's mantra . The problem in Scotland is that now Labour are doing so poorly support for the SNP is growing and with it more calls for independence will again be heard .
How can India or Pakistan be described as developing nations , the only thing their developing is the ability to shoot huge fireworks into space , at our expense. |
The countries we send aid to are amongst the most corrupt, the money would be better spent improving governance.
https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/corruption-rank | |
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| Increase in defence spending on 19:25 - Feb 26 with 22 views | SullutaCreturned |
| Increase in defence spending on 15:42 - Feb 26 by JACKMANANDBOY |
But we've got wind, people will invade us and steal our wind.
🙂 [Post edited 26 Feb 15:44]
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And our water, they are stealing our water now mind...
The idea to scrap Trident, I'm not against it. I think NATO (or now, as my preferred choice a revamped Europe only defence organisation) should have nukes and all member states pay enough in to cover that too.
I've long said we should stop spending overses aid on any country with space programs, nuclear programs and larger armed forces than us. If their people need the money then their government should be spending it there.
Our own armed forces have been underfunded for decades, I think spending should be at least at 3% | | | |
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