FIVE former Defence Secretaries turned fire on Labour last night over their “reckless” plans to delay a vital military spending boost.
Former top brass warned Britain would lose the next war it fought without an urgent cash boost for the Armed Forces.
After The Sun revealed Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence may not be hit until 2032, there was fury yesterday at the hold-up.
Nigel Farage warned it would put the PM on a “collision course” with Donald Trump who has demanded European allies hike their spending to 5 per cent of domestic output.
Former First Sea Lord and Labour Security Minister Admiral Lord West of Spithead slammed plans to delay the spending increase as “disgraceful”.
He said: “It’s no good saying we’ll do it when its affordable, by then we might have been in a war and lost.”
He added: “Anybody who knows anything about defence knows our military is hollowed out.
“We haven’t got the spares, we haven’t got the people, we haven’t got the ammunition in stock piles and we’re not doing the training we need.”
Ex-Army Chief Lord Dannatt slammed the PM’s planned delay as “outrageous”.
And he warned that No10’s paltry target of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence was only enough to, “fill in potholes”.
And the last five Tory Defence Secretaries warned the delay undermines Britain’s security and standing in NATO.
Sir Ben Wallace accused “dangerous” Labour of turning their backs on British troops, telling The Sun he feared the PM was “going to preside over Britain tumbling down the ladder of military of leadership in NATO.”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”UK and Poland to deepen defence ties” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6367286769112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Grant Shapps, who secured the 2.5 per cent commitment under the Tories, slammed the delay as “downright reckless”.
He went on: “This decision is a green light to adversaries and a slap in the face to our armed forces.”
Meanwhile, Penny Mordaunt warned Labour’s dithering would leave Britain falling behind NATO’s plans for 3 per cent defence spending.
She also warned it would damage ties with the US, adding: “The UK must stay aligned with the US on all fronts – defence, trade, and regulation.
“The default setting of the Starmer government is to pivot away from the US. All things are possible if there’s the political will to do it.”
‘LABOUR MUST TAKE DEFENCE MORE SERIOUSLY’
Echoing Mordaunt’s concerns, Sir Gavin Williamson fumed: “We are going to become incredibly marginalised if we don’t step up to what needs to be done.”
Sir Michael Fallon added: “Labour must take defence more seriously. We face multiple threats now, so 2.5 per cent should be the minimum in this Parliament.”
Boris Johnson had vowed to hit the target by 2028, with Rishi Sunak committing to do so by 2030.
Whilst Labour’s pledge did not have a specific date attached to it, angry MPs hit out yesterday during an Urgent Commons question.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard insisted Labour’s commitment to hit 2.5 was “cast-iron” but yet again refused to put a timeline on the target.
Instead he said: “We will set out a path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence in the spring”.
But Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge highlighted the threats from Russia to the UK as a reason to “urgently” increase defence spending, telling MPs: “The rest of us were listening but the Chancellor of the Exchequer was not.”
