{"id":68384,"date":"2024-04-02T14:03:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T14:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/02\/open-letter-stirs-debate-over-uk-defense-spending\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:56:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:56:18","slug":"open-letter-stirs-debate-over-uk-defense-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2024\/04\/02\/open-letter-stirs-debate-over-uk-defense-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Open letter stirs debate over UK defense spending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LONDON \u2014 U.K. lawmakers and former defense officials have urged Britain\u2019s political parties to invest more in the military so the country can defend itself and contribute to international alliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Fallon, defense secretary from 2014 to 2017, made the appeal in an April 2 letter co-signed by 24 current and former defense officials and published by the Council on Geostrategy think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the letter acknowledged the country has met NATO\u2019s target of spending 2% of gross domestic product by 2024 \u2014 a pledge made by all alliance members in 2014 but not yet attained by some \u2014 it also stated that the U.K.\u2019s current level of spending is not sufficient to respond to the \u201cgravest threats\u201d the countries has faced since the end of the Cold War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to NATO\u2019s latest report on allies\u2019 defense expenditures, the U.K.\u2019s defense spending in 2023 was 2.07% of its GDP, or around $65 billion, down from 2.14% in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Current and former British officials noted Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and the dangers the Kremlin posed to democracies through election interference, cyber attacks and assassinations, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin will not \u201crelent\u201d and may see Britain as an \u201cabsolute enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also cited militants\u2019 attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, Iran\u2019s and North Korea\u2019s growing nuclear capabilities and China\u2019s rearmament drive as well as the threat of a military conflict in Taiwan and in the South China Sea, which could spread throughout the Indo-Pacific region and potentially the whole world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together, these threats have put Britain\u2019s energy supplies, subsea cables and international trade routes at \u201cgreater risk than at any time this century,\u201d causing food and energy prices to rise, putting its borders in jeopardy, and increasing people trafficking, the letter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because of the risk to Britain and its allies, all U.K. political parties should pledge to invest a minimum of 2.5% of GDP in defense over the long run, with the goal of reaching 3% by 2030, the letter stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the letter\u2019s signatories are members of the parliamentary Defence Committee who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2024\/03\/27\/uk-lawmakers-defense-chief-clash-over-looming-defense-spending-cuts\/\">clashed with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps<\/a> last week over cuts to next year\u2019s core defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">British leaders have previously pegged a defense spending rate of 2.5% of GDP as the new objective. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outlined a longer-term goal to raise defense spending to that level as part of the Integrated Review Refresh 2023, though the guidance is tied to the country\u2019s economic situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advocates of higher military budgets point to Russia&#8217;s war on Ukraine and other global crises as evidence that Britain must improve its defensive posture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":119105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3434],"class_list":["post-68384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3HCNNM4PDJE7LES2F5W6OQOEHQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2024\/04\/02\/open-letter-stirs-debate-over-uk-defense-spending\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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higher military budgets point to Russia&#039;s war on Ukraine and other global crises as evidence that Britain must improve its defensive posture.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2024\/04\/02\/open-letter-stirs-debate-over-uk-defense-spending\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-02T14:03:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:56:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thibault Spirlet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thibault Spirlet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    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