Tamworth’s MP Questions Defence Minister in House of Commons

Christopher Pincher, MP for Tamworth, spoke in the House of Commons in Monday’s questions on defence.

He tackled the Minister for Defence Procurement, Philip Dunne MP, on the level of changes in military spending.

Mr Pincher asked, “What estimate has he made of the likely change in the level of defence spending over the course of this Parliament.”

The Minister responded, “As from this month, the Ministry of Defence’s budget has risen to more than £35 billion, that is an increase of £800 million on the year just ended.

“This is the first real-terms increase in six years, reflecting the priority set out by this Government in the 2015 spending review to increase defence spending by 0.5% above inflation every year to 2020-21.

“This Government have clearly committed this country to meeting the NATO guideline of spending 2% of GDP on defence each and every year of this decade.”

Mr Pincher then asked if we were to opt not to spend the recommended 2%, as advocated by some in the Labour Party, what negative impact that would have on “the morale of our troops, their equipment and our security.”

The Minister responded that a failure to meet this commitment would have a dangerous impact on the United Kingdom’s ability to deliver the capability we need to face foreign threats, and the 2% target is necessary to properly equip our armed forces.

After the debate, Mr Pincher said, “We plugged Labour’s £38 billion black hole in military spending so we can now afford to provide the right level of kit and support for our troops.  We must continue to ensure they have what they need to do the job we ask of them as safely as possible.

“Jeremy Corbyn’s plans for our services are summed up by the fact he put Ken Livingstone in charge of Labour’s defence review and he wants nuclear submarines to sail around the world with no nuclear deterrent on board – like toothless tigers.  We really cannot trust Mr Corbyn with our security.”