Ministers Demand Extra Defence Spending in the Face of Rising Global Threats

Rishi Sunak is under pressure to boost defence spending after two serving ministers publicly called for a “much greater pace” of investment. The call from Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan and security minister Tom Tugendhat came after the budget was criticised for failing to boost defence spending. The two senior Tories said the UK needs to “lead the way” by increasing defence and security spending to at least 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy. While the government has an aspiration to reach 2.5 percent, beyond the NATO-wide target of 2 percent, the ministers said the global risk posed by countries including Russia and China meant there was no time for delay....