MP calls for increased defence spending in wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Defence spending should be increased to counter the threat posed by Russia's desire to re-establish its "Soviet territory" through the invasion of Ukraine, an MP has said.
John Spellar said ministers should increase funding to three per cent of GDP and review defence plans in the wake of the continuing crisis.
The former defence minister and Warley MP called for a reset of procurement processes and for a new defence review focusing primarily on state-on-state conflict.
Mr Spellar, vice-chairman of the select committee on defence, said in a debate: "This is a dramatic time for defence issues. The agony of Ukraine intensifies, as President Zelensky’s powerful address (...) made clear.
"The crisis has, of course, been building for a number of years, as Russia has launched successive cyber-attack warfare in the Baltic states and kinetic warfare in Georgia, Crimea and the Donbas. It has now exploded dramatically and tragically in Ukraine. We declare our solidarity with the country, the people and the military forces of Ukraine.
"How are we in the UK to react to the dramatic shift in international security relations? Clearly, our Government and Parliament now have to give an urgent and positive response to the long-standing demands of our Defence Committee that we must move towards three per cent of GDP for defence spending.
"Over many years, I have posed a question a number of times to military figures, defence officials and academics. During the cold war, we based our defence and security posture on our assessment of “the Threat”, with a capital T, and I have asked what the Threat is today.
"Invariably, I receive the answer that we face a variety of threats, but that is not the right answer, because the question is 'what is the existential threat to our nation and society?' It is not terrorism, Islamist or otherwise, ugly and vile though that is. Today we—the people of Ukraine, the people of Europe, and indeed the west more widely—know the answer. It is a revanchist Russia and its desire to re-establish the Soviet territory, although I accept that in the longer term, as the defence review states, a revisionist China may be a more significant challenge. That means that today’s estimates are fundamentally an historical document, as, indeed, is the review."
The MP also said there may be a need to revise the "ideological decision" made by the Government to leave bases in Germany – with troops, and their families, leaving the country in 2020 under the Government's 2010 strategic defence review.
"The peace not only of Ukraine but of Europe and the wider world is under threat and we must restate our commitment to our collective security through NATO backed by our nuclear capability," Mr Spellar said.
"We must also have a reset of our plans and budget; our defence procurement process; and our doctrine, intelligence and messaging. I hope that that message has been heard loud and clear not only by the Minister but by the Treasury. The first test of that will be in the Budget debate at the end of the month."
