The government has been “effectively raiding” the defence budget in times of peace and must now invest more to meet “growing” threats, the defence secretary has said.
Speaking to Sky News, Ben Wallace claimed it was “always an uphill battle” with the Treasury to secure more funding, as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepares to announce his Budget next month.
But the minister said he would have “lots of meetings” with Mr Hunt in the coming days and weeks to “come to a deal”.
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Reports suggest Mr Wallace is looking to get up to £11bn in extra cash for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), but The Times says officials are reluctant due to recent failed projects and “wasteful spending”.
Asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley if the MoD was wasting money, the defence secretary said: “I think the Treasury will make that point as I asked for more money.”
He added: “Look, historically, the MoD has bought into equipment that I think hasn’t necessarily delivered. But remember, 85% of our procurements are on budget [and] on time.
“That doesn’t change the fact that the threat is growing and what we’ve seen since 1991, since the end of the Cold War, is a consistent, effectively raiding of the defence budget over time.
“Maybe a peace dividend was appropriate straight after the Cold War. We had huge armies in Europe. The Cold War finished and it was right that the taxpayer who’d invested in defence got a return on that.
“The problem is that continued and has continued for many decades as the threat has increased. And I’ve been very open here that the threat has increased.
“And just like other parts of government, when demand threat increases, we should reconsider how much we fund it.”
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‘Growing threat’
Mr Wallace said he was “very conscious of of the overall government’s ambition” to reduce inflation – one of its main defences for not increasing pay offers to striking public sector workers.
“That, of course, means it’s going to pinch all of us in all our departments because, you know, ultimately the answer cannot therefore be to flood everything with extra spending or more borrowing,” he said.
“But I also know that we have a growing threat on the world stage.”
The defence secretary denied repeated reports that he had threatened to resign if he did not get his way at the Budget.
“This is not about resigning or anything else,” he said. “It’s about delivering defence to meet the threat.
“That’s my duty to to the public… to be able to fund defence to protect us from the likes of Russia and other countries around the world.”
