Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance report, said:

“This report exposes the Government’s complete and shocking failure to maintain its commitment on defence spending to our Armed Forces and to the country.

“Just weeks after the Prime Minister was lecturing our allies about increasing spending to meet the 2 percent NATO commitment, it is now clear that her Government is unwilling to commit the necessary resources to our nation’s defences.

“As the Defence Select Committee has shown, the MoD was already barely scrapping over the 2 percent mark and had changed its accounting methods to give the illusion of keeping the commitment. To be spending less than 2 percent of GDP on defence is utterly unacceptable, particularly in this time of immense global uncertainty.

“Labour is committed to spending at least 2 percent of our GDP on defence spending, as we consistently did when in government.”

ENDS