The Prime Minister is expected to overrule the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and increase military defence spending to help boost Ukraine.
On Monday Sir Keir Starmer will travel to Paris to hold emergency talks with his counterparts after the US President Donald Trump has placed further pressure on Europe to go further and harder on defence spending to support Ukraine.
The Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has come to the Chancellor’s rescue saying that Reeves understands the need to boost defence spending as Europe is heading into a possible third world war.
NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte has said the alliance must boost their spending by at least 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and this is putting pressure on Downing Street to come up with a quick plan.
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On Sunday Reynolds said, “The whole Cabinet, the whole Government, I think most people in this country recognise the pressures the world is under, recognise more will have to be spent on defence.
“Now the spending review will set out the roadmap towards that target.”
Reynolds added, “The Chancellor knows more than most people the pressures on public services across the board, but defence has to be the cornerstone of our national prosperity as well as our security.
“There’s a whole range of things the UK does. Our contribution to the intelligence services, for instance, should be considered, I think, as part of that contribution to collective Western security.”
Reynolds told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, “We all want the war to end. Desperately want the war to end. I think it’s clear for that to be a durable peace, Ukraine has to be at the table, has to be part of that agreement.
“We believe Ukraine is on an irreversible path to Nato membership. But the US defence secretary has said everything is still on the table.”
On Friday Starmer had a one-on-one meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and the heads of the armed forces, they are all calling on the Prime Minister to raise military spending by 2.65% of GDP.
Labour vowed to raise defence spending from the current 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP, but stopped short of saying when this will happen.
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