Boris Johnson: ‘Feeble' defence budget will leave us at Russia's mercy

Telegraph

a day ago

Boris Johnson has said Labour's 'feeble' spending on defence leaves Britain at the mercy of Russia.
The former prime minister told The Telegraph that Rachel Reeves's claims that defence spending would rise to 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2027 had left him 'very puzzled' and that the Chancellor's reluctance to pump more money into the sector suggested she did not view it as a priority.
On Wednesday, Ms Reeves said defence spending would rise to 2.6 per cent by April 2027, but did not confirm whether it would climb higher, as demanded by Nato.
'This is feeble,' Mr Johnson said. 'They [Labour] have wasted a big opportunity.
'My view is that this Government is completely failing to show the leadership that is needed to defend Britain and defend Europe.
'Labour are congenitally hostile to defence spending. Their grass roots are still basically Corbynistas who think Russia is a great thing. Those views are still highly influential in Labour.'
At the start of this year, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to send British troops into Ukraine in the event that a ceasefire between the two warring nations was negotiated by Donald Trump.
A ' coalition of the willing ' was also established between European nations, with the UK said to be leading the group that would establish a road to peace in Ukraine. However, talk on both of these subjects appears to have gone quiet.
Mr Johnson, who was prime minister when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022, and has remained close with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, since leaving government, said: 'What's happened to the boots on the ground initiative?
'As with Ukraine, the way to peace is through strength. If you talk to people in Ukraine or the US, they will say leadership on protecting Ukraine is now being offered by Germany and France.'
Mr Johnson also said the Chancellor's increase in the welfare budget was 'out of control' and that such sums should be invested in defence instead.
At a summit in the Hague later this month, which Mr Trump will attend, all Nato members will be expected to agree to committing 5 per cent of GDP on defence.
Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, has called for all alliance members to get to 3.5 per cent by 2032 and 5 per cent by an unspecified date.
Earlier this week, Mr Rutte told The Telegraph that if Nato nations failed to achieve this percentage, then they needed ' to start learning to speak Russian '.
Ms Reeves told the Commons: 'A new era in the threats we face demands a new era for defence and security. That's why we took the decision to prioritise our defence spending by reducing overseas development aid so that defence spending will now rise to 2.6 per cent of GDP by April 2027, including the contribution of our intelligence agencies.
'That uplift provides funding for the Defence Secretary, with a £11 billion increase in defence spending and a £600 milllion uplift for our security and intelligence agencies.'
However, Tory sources claimed that by adding the single intelligence agencies budget in with the defence budget, it was eating into what money was left for the Armed Forces and did not account for 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence.
'Labour have taken money from a different department and pretended it was going to the Armed Forces,' one said.
However, a Labour source accused the Tories of 'getting their numbers wrong' and insisted Wednesday's announcement was 'not a cut to defence' based on the Nato qualifying spend.