Chancellor Philip Hammond: Britain 'safe' under the Tories

Chancellor Philip Hammond has hit back at fears over military spending, claiming Britain will always have the ‘forces we need to deal effectively with our potential adversaries’ under the Tories.

Philip Hammond during his visit yesterday

Mr Hammond was speaking on a visit to the Black Country at a time of a defence spending review, launched following concerns over previously-planned cuts.

But he said calls to increase the size of the army, including from the former Chief of General Staff General Mike Jackson, were ‘not necessarily the right way’.

Instead, he said more resources had to go to cyber defence and means of unconventional warfare in the wake of threats such as Russia.

Mr Hammond has been in talks with Defence Secretary and South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson over military spending.

Express & Star comment: Action not words over defence

Mr Hammond said: “I’ve been Defence Secretary for three years so I’m familiar with the former chiefs of military staffs, and of course retired generals always call for more money for the army and retired admirals always call for more ships in the navy. That is natural.

“What we have to do is look at where we can most effectively invest to protect Britain and as the Defence Secretary has said the world is changing very fast, more and more of our effort has to go into cyber defence, unconventional and asymmetrical warfare than it did in the past.

“So just looking to the assets we had in the past and saying lets have more of them is not necessarily the right way to defend Britain in the future.

“Our Ministry Of Defence is focussed to being at the very cutting edge of new technologies and focused on the emerging capabilities which we are seeing coming from Russia and other potential adversaries to make sure that we have the means to counter it and keep Britain safe.

“A Conservative Government will always ensure that Britain remains safe, that we have the forces we need to deal effectively with our potential adversaries.”

Chancellor gets swept away by Black Country engineering

The group take a closer look at a Westfield racing car

Philip Hammond is shown one of the company's pod

The Chancellor in conversation with Dudley South MP Mike Wood, chairman of Westfield Frank Turner and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street

It was a hands on visit for Philip Hammond

From runway sweepers to people movers – Chancellor Philip Hammond was shown around the latest autonomous vehicles being developed in the Black Country.

Mr Hammond was given a tour of Westfield Sportscars’ base in Kingswinford by director Frank Turner yesterday.

The company started as a kit car firm but in recent years it has diversified, taking on new technology such as autonomous vehicles.

Mr Hammond was shown a runway sweeper planned for Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai.

It is being developed in partnership with Johnston Sweepers.

A driverless pod was also at Westfield Sportscars following a successful eight-week trial in Greenwich, where it had been used for a shuttle service. It will next go to the Lake District and Manchester for further testing.

Mr Hammond said: “I’m always interested in seeing businesses operating at the cutting edge of technology and what I’m seeing here is very interesting and very significant for the decarbonisation of our vehicle fleet, moving to autonomous vehicles in the future, so it is great to see what is going on here.”