Chilling war mistakes warning as Grant Shapps squirms over Kuenssberg question

21 January 2024 , 10:02

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Chilling war mistakes warning as Grant Shapps squirms over Kuenssberg question

Grant Shapps refused to say when a Tory pledge to raise defence spending will be met - despite saying the risk of war has increased.

The Defence Secretary was challenged over whether the UK is ready for war, with defence spending below its target of 2.5% of GDP. Asked when the UK will meet the target, he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: "There is a trajectory upwards. I can't give you the exact date because we've always said it's as the economic conditions allow. But the point is we're working to a plan."

Grant Shapps couldn't answer Laura Kuenssberg's question about defence spending

It comes after a former chief of the general staff of the British Army warned this week the UK risks a repeat of the 1930s unless more is invested in its armed forces. General Lord Dannatt hit out at the shrinking size of the army, which he said has fallen from 102,000 in 2006 to 74,000 today "and falling fast".

Writing in The Times, he drew parallels with the 1930s when the "woeful" state of the UK's armed forces failed to deter Hitler. "There is a serious danger of history repeating itself," he said. Pointing to rising geopolitical uncertainty, he said: "If our armed forces are not strong enough to deter future aggression from Moscow or Beijing it will not be a small war to contend with but a major one."

Lord Dannatt said pay and conditions should be "urgently reviewed" and "a pay rise to attract recruits and to retain current trained personnel should be a priority, as should addressing the appalling quality of some armed forces accommodation".

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Under Government proposals, the size of the regular army will be cut from a commitment of 82,000 troops to 73,000 by 2025. Mr Shapps has said the size of the British Army will not dip below 73,000 under the Conservatives, disputing projections that it could eventually sink to 50,000.

He told Sky's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: "It's not projected to go down to 50,000. It's actually, specifically, to 73,000 plus the reserves." Asked whether under the Tories' watch, the size of the army would not fall below 73,000, Mr Shapps said: "That's correct." He added: "It isn't a question of how many men and women you have on the ground only, it's about how lethal your armed forces are."

In his first major speech as Defence Secretary last week, Mr Shapps said the UK is facing a "pre-war world". He admitted the "peace dividend" that allowed successive governments to ease spending on defence is over, as he set out the risks posed by countries including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as well as terrorist groups in an increasingly dangerous world.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would not commit to Labour spending 3% of GDP a year on defence if elected. She told Trevor Phillips On Sky News: "Decisions for future spending if Labour wins the election would be for a Labour chancellor and in opposition is for Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, but we have been clear about the importance of our national security. National security is the bedrock on which everything else in the country and everybody's wellbeing is built and so of course that includes supporting our Armed Forces and making sure that they have the investment and the support that they need."

Sophie Huskisson