Gavin Williamson wins first battle as new defence review announced

The Ministry of Defence will oversee the review, which gives Defence Secretary Mr Williamson an extra five months to make the case for increased military funding.

The South Staffordshire MP has been pushing for a separate defence review, insisting that the armed forces must be equipped to deal with the rising threats faced by Britain, including terrorism, Russia and cyber warfare.

It comes after the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, warned on Monday that his forces are struggling to keep up with Russian advances.

He has called for greater public debate about defence issues, while Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, has warned of the danger to UK undersea internet cables from Russian naval activity.

Mr Williamson is expected to tour bases in the coming weeks in an attempt to raise the profile of defence.

Downing Street announced on Tuesday that the defence strand of the long-awaited security capability review, run by Sir Mark Sedwill, will now be spun off into a full-blown defence review.

Under Sir Mark's review, which was to provide no new money, defence chiefs had drawn up a series of proposals for swingeing cuts as the MoD tries to make £20bn of savings in the next decade.

They included reducing the Army by 11,000 and axing as many as seven frigates.

Theresa May and Mr Williamson both rejected the proposals before Christmas, and the Defence Secretary has said he will lobby the Treasury for up to £2bn extra a year.

Mr Williamson has also described the current defence spending of two per cent of GDP as the 'absolute minimum' acceptable.

Since being named as Defence Secretary in November he has already successfully fought to save the Army's 'Be the Best' motto.

Downing Street said 'further work is needed in order to modernise defence and deliver better military capability and value for money'.

The review is expected to report back by July, while the rest of Sir Mark’s Whitehall review is likely to be made public in the spring.

Julian Lewis, Conservative chair of the Commons defence committee, said: "If this means that defence reviews are now once more being carried out by the MOD then this is a welcome victory for the new Defence Secretary.

"However, the more fundamental issue is the inadequacy of the defence budget at barely two per cent of GDP which is not enough even to meet ongoing threats, previously identified, let alone the new and intensified threats which led to this security and capability review in the first place."

Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith said the separate review 'cannot simply be an excuse to kick the difficult decisions facing the defence budget into the long grass'.

The MoD faces a £20-30 billion shortfall in its budget over the next decade to meet its commitments to build new warships, aircraft, submarines and vehicles.

Mr Williamson is expected to address Parliament this week with further details of the review.