Emily Thornberry said: “We want to get closer to 2.5 percent. When we were last in power, the figure was 2.5 percent. Photo: Thomas Creech/Shutterstock
Emily Thornberry said Labor would not make the same defense spending commitments as the Tories.
The shadow attorney general said the party would aim to meet the target 2.5 dollars. percentage of GDP “when circumstances permit” rather than setting a precise date.
Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labor Party, also did not give a time frame when replacing Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions, saying only that “We all want Britain to achieve this goal.”
On Tuesday, Rishi Sunak announced that the UK would increase defense spending to £87 billion a year by the early 2030s, representing 2.5 percent of total GDP.
His commitment sees the UK spending a total of an additional £75 billion for the armed forces over the next six years, making it the largest single funder in Europe as things stand.
He said the commitment should set a new benchmark for all NATO countries and especially European countries, which he said must do more to finance their own defense.
But Labor has only promised to increase spending to 2.5 percent “as and when we can”. Asked whether Labor would achieve this goal “how and when” the party comes to power, Ms Thornberry told Sky News: “Not when we come to power, but when we can and when circumstances allow.” .
“We want to get closer to 2.5%. When we were last in power, the figure was 2.5 percent. But we need to get there and we're not going to say we're going to do it by 2030, as the government has said, unless there's a plan that makes sense.”
Labour said the Tories weren't were able to determine how they would pay for increased defense spending, calling the promise a “gimmick.”
Answering a question from Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden in the House of Commons, Ms Rayner said: “We all want to see 2.5 per cent. The difference is that we have not cut the army to its smallest size since Napoleon.”
Labour has said it will only increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP if it is achievable within the party's rules on loans. .
In the meantime, in its first year, it will conduct a review of “strategic defense and security” to “fully understand the state of our Armed Forces, the nature of the threats we face and the capabilities required.”
Conservatives criticized the Labor Party for failing to deliver on its promises, and Johnny Mercer, the veterans' affairs secretary, suggested Sir Keir's defense review could delay progress “as the world becomes an increasingly dangerous place”.
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He said: “It is the same old Labor Party that sent our Armed Forces into battle with terrifying technology. The idea that they can be trusted to protect them just a few years after trying to send Jeremy Corbyn to Downing Street is absurd.”
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