UK Government only committed to “bare minimum” of required defence spending, Committee says
22 June 2023
Today the Defence Committee publishes correspondence to the Secretary of State for Defence alongside the Government’s response to its report: “Special Relationships? US, UK and NATO?”
- Read the correspondence published today
- Read the committee's report: Special Relationships? US, UK, and NATO
- Read the Government's response to the committee's report
Chair of the Defence Committee, Tobias Ellwood, has written to the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, following the Government’s response to the Committee’s report, published in March 2023.
In its response, the Government confirmed that the UK will continue to spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence. But, the Chair writes, this investment is the “bare minimum” required in the current geopolitical and macroeconomic context. He asks the Secretary of State whether the Government is concerned that UK spending as a proportion of GDP looks likely to be overtaken shortly by Germany and France.
The Government’s response said that the UK had been leading work within the NATO alliance on industrial capacity, and to replenish stockpiles, following the conflict in Ukraine. The Committee calls for the Secretary of State provide more information on what this leadership has involved, and what the Government has achieved in this area so far.
Further information
Image credit: Tyler Allicock/UK Parliament