During her campaign for Number 10, Liz Truss said the number would be reached by the end of the decade. But asked if she would stick to her promise, the new prime minister did not give a straight answer, instead pointing to Boris Johnson’s previous 2.5% pledge and NATO’s 2% target. “We are the second largest defense spender in NATO,” Mr Sunak said. “So no one can say that we don’t have a very strong defensive position. “We have, not just a current, but a historical record of being a strong defense investor and prioritizing NATO. “That’s what I did as chancellor with a significant increase in defense spending.” Speaking to Sky News ahead of Thursday’s budget event, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would ask all government departments to “find more efficiencies than they planned to find”. The 3% pledge was once a resignation point for Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, with sources saying he would keep Ms Truss on the figure after years of pushing for a bigger budget to deal with modern security threats. But even he appeared to back away from that position last week, telling European defense ministers he was “deciding budget by budget at the moment” amid the need to plug a fiscal black hole in public finances. Other Tory MPs are more concerned, however, with some saying rejecting the pledge would damage the party’s reputation on defense and make it look weak in the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he continues his invasion of Ukraine. Speaking as he traveled to the G20 summit in Bali, Mr Sunak listed the economic and military aid given to the country in recent weeks – including 1,000 missiles – and said: “I don’t think Putin or anyone else can see that and to say anyway we are weak. “We are incredibly strong in standing up to him and giving Ukrainians all the support they need and that will continue with me as prime minister.” He also said he would use the summit to make clear his “unequivocal condemnation” of the Russian invasion. But pressed on whether defense spending should rise in line with inflation in the coming years because of the war, the prime minister said: “Our track record is clear. Our international reputation for defense spending and resistance to Russian aggression is very, very strong. “I’ve heard that from every leader I’ve spoken to actually. Every single person I’ve spoken to has gone out of their way to praise the UK’s role in standing up to Putin. “We just announced this week more missions. I think people can feel absolutely confident that we are investing in our defense and providing all the support we need to the Ukrainians as well.”
title: “Rishi Sunak Rejects 3 Defense Spending Pledge But Points To Record Investment Political News " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-15” author: “James Walsh”
During her campaign for Number 10, Liz Truss said the number would be reached by the end of the decade. But asked if she would stick to her promise, the new prime minister did not give a straight answer, instead pointing to Boris Johnson’s previous 2.5% pledge and NATO’s 2% target. “We are the second largest defense spender in NATO,” Mr Sunak said. “So no one can say that we don’t have a very strong defensive position. “We have, not only a current, but a historical record of being a strong investor in defense and prioritizing NATO. “That’s what I did as chancellor with a significant increase in defense spending.” Speaking to Sky News ahead of Thursday’s budget event, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would ask all government departments to “find more efficiencies than they planned to find”. The 3% pledge was once a resignation point for Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, with sources saying he would keep Ms Truss on the figure after years of pushing for a bigger budget to deal with modern security threats. But even he appeared to back away from that position last week, telling European defense ministers he was “deciding budget by budget at the moment” amid the need to plug a fiscal black hole in public finances. Other Tory MPs are more concerned, however, with some saying rejecting the pledge would damage the party’s reputation on defense and make it look weak in the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he continues his invasion of Ukraine. Speaking as he traveled to the G20 summit in Bali, Mr Sunak listed the economic and military aid given to the country in recent weeks – including 1,000 missiles – and said: “I don’t think Putin or anyone else can see that and to say anyway we are weak. “We are incredibly strong in standing up to him and giving Ukrainians all the support they need and that will continue with me as prime minister.” He also said he would use the summit to make clear his “unequivocal condemnation” of the Russian invasion. But pressed on whether defense spending should rise in line with inflation in the coming years because of the war, the prime minister said: “Our track record is clear. Our international reputation for defense spending and dealing with Russian aggression is very, very powerful. “I’ve heard that from every leader I’ve spoken to actually. Every single person I’ve spoken to has gone out of their way to praise the UK’s role in standing up to Putin. “We just announced this week more missions. I think people can feel absolutely confident that we are investing in our defense and providing all the support we need to the Ukrainians as well.”
