Britain’s Sunak to boost defence spending

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will spend an extra £5 billion ($6 billion) to replenish ammunition stocks and fund the next phase of a submarine pact with the United States and Australia in an update to Britain’s foreign policy framework.

With his government unveiling the update to Britain’s national security and international policy, Sunak, on a visit to the U.S., will also set out an “ambition” to increase defence spending to 2.5% of the gross domestic product in the longer term.

Sunak hailed the move as a way “to ensure we are never again vulnerable to the actions of a hostile power”, but his offer of 5 billion pounds is less than half of what some in his governing Conservative Party say is needed to be able to support Ukraine against Russia, while not leaving Britain vulnerable.

He said his previous increases in defence spending showed he was a man of his word, and described the new commitments as a “strong and positive statement”.

“As the world becomes more volatile and competition between the states becomes more intense, the UK must be ready to stand our ground.

 “We will fortify our national defences, from economic security to technology supply chains and intelligence expertise, to ensure we are never again vulnerable to the actions of a hostile power,” Sunak said in a statement.

The Ministry of Defence said minister Ben Wallace was “delighted” with the settlement, especially in the tough economic times, and said it would maintain the upward trajectory after the government invested heavily in recent years.

The unveiling of the updated Integrated Review has been choreographed to coincide with Sunak’s visit to San Diego to agree on the next steps in a landmark defence agreement, AUKUS, with the United States and Australia.

Also Read: Aukus: Sunak in US visit to finalise defence pact

Some of the new spendings will go towards programmes that will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time, part of efforts to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

“As I will discuss with our American and Australian allies in the U.S. today, the UK will remain a leading contributor to NATO and a reliable international partner, standing up for our values from Ukraine to the South China Sea,” Sunak said.

But Sunak is under pressure at home to offer more help to the defence ministry to combat the impact of inflation and spur the production of ammunition and other military hardware to replace weapons sent to Ukraine to help Kyiv push back Russian for

Zainab Sa’id