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Labour is putting Britain’s historic “special relationship” with the United States at risk, shadow defence minister Mark Francois has warned as concern mounts about the UK’s capability to fight a major war.
He of undermining the “cornerstone of our defence policy” and attacked “Labour’s persistent uncertainty on defence spending”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves made headlines this weekend by saying there is “no magic pot for any area of government spending” when asked if defence will get special treatment because of the present global instability.
This came days after defence minister Alistair Carns warned the regular army could be wiped out in as little as six months if Britain was forced to fight a -intensity war.
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Mr Francois fears the “much-needed modernisation of our naval fleet, upgrades to armoured vehicles, and expansion of missile defence systems will continue to be deferred”.
A Government timetable for how the UK will hit its target of spending 2.5% of GDP on defence is expected to be set out in a spending review that will not be completed until June.
In February, President-elect caused concern when he said he would not “protect” countries from Moscow that did not meet their NATO spending obligations.
Mr Francois also called on the UK to abandon the deal to hand the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands – home to the Diego Garcia UK-US military base – to Mauritius, saying: “Continuing down this path risks undermining our security while offering no tangible benefits in return.”
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He cautioned that while the US is Britain’s closest ally, “alliances are built on trust and mutual reliability”.
His warning came as MI5 director-general Ken McCallum said he has been forced to make “uncomfortable choices” about where to concentrate efforts.
He said the intelligence service has had to “pare back” its focus on counter-terrorism to deal with the danger posed by and other aggressive states.