By Ben Kerrigan-
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is planning to ask the prime minister to increase spending on the UK’s armed forces in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Wallace is expected to ask the PM to increase that to 2.5% by 2028.
He will tell a conference organised by the Royal United Services Institute think tank that, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, governments must be prepared to invest more to keep people safe.
The conference speeches come ahead of a summit of Nato leaders in Madrid, which is also expected to address allies’ readiness and spending on defence.
The defensive alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has already made clear he wants a target of members spending 2% of their annual national income on defence to be a baseline, rather than a ceiling.
Nato’s former deputy supreme commander, Sir Richard Shirreff, believes the UK and its allies must build up its deterrent presence in order to prevent further Russian escalation.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has reportedly asked Boris Johnson to hike UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP – an additional 20% a year – by 2028 in the face of Russian aggression.
In his letter, Mr Wallace also urged the Prime Minister to call on Nato leaders at the upcoming Madrid summit to raise the spend per country from the current minimum target of 2% to 2.5% of national income, according to Talk TV’s The News Desk programme.
A defence source did not deny the reports, saying: “We do not comment on alleged leaks.
“The Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister have always said that the Government will respond to any changes in threat which is why in 2020 the Ministry of Defence received a record defence settlement.”
Mr Wallace reportedly highlighted deficiencies in the UK’s military capabilities which have been laid bare by the war in Ukraine in his letter to No 10 and subsequent conversations.
They include shortfalls of deep-strike weapons, artillery stocks and in the UK’s anti-air and anti-drone capabilities, too few pilots to fly new F35 strike jets and too few crew for ships and submarines, The News Desk reported.
Meanwhile, the Conservative chairman of the Defence Committee called for an even higher defence spending increase.
After a decade of defence cuts, the government announced what it described as an additional £16.5bn of spending over four years in 2020.
In March, Mr Wallace wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak asking for extra investment and this has now been followed up by a letter to the prime minister, which has been leaked.
In it, the defence secretary also urges the PM to call on other Nato leaders to raise the spend per country to 2.5% of national income.
The size of the UK’s regular army is being cut from 82,000 to 73,000 as part of last year’s integrated defence review, a policy which former head of the army, General Sir Mark Carlton-Smith, said was not enough.
The new head of the armed forces, General Sir Patrick Sanders, said he had never known such a clear threat “as the brutal aggression of President Putin” in his address to the conference earlier.
He likened the war in Ukraine to the build up to World War Two, describing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “1937 moment” for the UK, a reference to the policy of appeasement – negotiation, agreements and diplomacy – to prevent war in Europe.
British troops need to be ready to face Russia in the battlefield, a recent internal message from Gen Sir Patrick addressed to all ranks and civil servants said.
The invasion showed the need “to protect the UK and be ready to fight and win wars on land”, he said. The UK government said it was spending £1.3bn ($1.6bn) on military support for Ukraine, including sending long-range rocket systems.