Britain should stay close to US to ward off Russian threat, says defence chief
Britain should stay close to the US to stand up to the threat from Russia, the Chief of the Defence Staff has said.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin's comments came after Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, told The Telegraph that people in Britain had 'better learn to speak Russian' if the Government did not drastically increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.
Sir Tony, the head of the British military, appeared before the Commons defence select committee on Tuesday, where he was asked if he agreed with Mr Rutte's comments.
He said such a scenario could be avoided by sticking close to America and strengthening Nato, telling MPs: 'We all accept that we are in this era of change.
'The piece that I think is so true and consistent for the UK is this security construct which is extraordinary and we should celebrate.
'We are a nuclear power. We are the world's largest and most powerful military alliance and we have as our principal ally the world's most powerful country on the planet. That's what keeps us safe.
'That's what we need to bind to, that's what we are doing, and that's what we need to strengthen so that we don't have the concerns that we are all going to be speaking Russian.'
Sir Tony's remarks came as Rachel Reeves prepared to deliver her spending review, in which the Chancellor will set out the details of departmental spending, on Wednesday.
However, Sir Tony, who steps down as CDS this autumn and will be replaced by Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, refused to say whether he supported an uplift in defence spending to 3 per cent and beyond.
Sir Tony also acknowledged the changing relationship between America and the UK, now that Donald Trump has asked the UK to shoulder more of the burden in Europe.
Asked if the US withdrew, either entirely or partly, its contribution to Nato, would Europe be strong enough to 'match' Russia, Sir Tony said it was.
However, he also insisted that 'America is sticking with Nato'.
'America is going to continue to provide all of us in Europe with the nuclear security guarantee,' he said, while cautioning that the US has other priorities, from homeland security to the Indo-Pacific.
'We no longer have that guarantee in terms of conventional American help for the security of Europe,' Sir Tony said. 'That is a significant change and that's why you are seeing Europe responding.'
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