Grant Shapps rejects claims the army will shrink further after 1930s danger warning
The defence secretary has disputed suggestions the size of the British Army could shrink significantly after warnings the UK risks a repeat of the 1930s without more investment.
Grant Shapps told the Sunday Morning with Trevor Philips Show that under the Conservatives, the strength of the army will not dip below its current level of around 73,000.
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It comes after a former army chief hit out at the “shrinking size” of the force, which he said had plunged from 102,000 in 2006 to 74,000 today and was “falling fast”.
A former army chief has hit out at the ‘shrinking size’ of the force. File pic
Writing in The Times, General Lord Dannatt said there was “a serious danger of history repeating itself”, pointing to the 1930s when the “woeful” state of the UK’s armed forces failed to deter Hitler.
Asked about these comments, Mr Shapps acknowledged numbers had fallen over the past decade – but he disputed the suggestion it could drop to half the size it was under Lord Dannatt’s time at the helm.
“It’s not projected to go down to 50,000. It’s actually, specifically, to 73,000 plus the reserves,” he said.
Pressed over whether under the Tories, the size of the army would not fall below this level, Mr Shapps said: “That’s correct.”
He added: “It isn’t a question of how many men and women you have on the ground only, it’s about how lethal your armed forces are.”
The size of the overall armed forces was around 188,000, Mr Shapps said.
It comes after the secretary of state warned the world could be engulfed by wars involving China, Russia, North Korea and Iran in the next five years – raising concerns about the UK’s military capability and how much was being spent on defence.
Mr Shapps has said defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP ‘when conditions allow’
Lord Dannatt said the UK’s defence spending as a proportion of GDP should rise to 3%, warning that if the armed forces cannot deter future aggression from Moscow or Beijing “it will not be a small war to contend with but a major one”.
The government has pledged to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of the decade.
Mr Shapps said “we’re comfortably above 2%” and will get to 2.5% “when conditions allow”.
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Asked if he believed the commitment should rise to 3%, something he called for before taking the cabinet position, Mr Shapps said the “world needed to spend more”, but the UK is the biggest spender in NATO after the US.
He said that “in the long-term western spending needed to be higher”.
However, he suggested that was not currently a government priority, with ministers currently eyeing pre-election tax cuts.
Mr Shapps said: “We are committed to spending more when conditions allow. But I also think that it is true to say that people do want to see more of the money that they earn kept.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has hinted at tax cuts in the upcoming spring budget, comparing himself to the late chancellor Nigel Lawson, who slashed personal taxation while serving in Margaret Thatcher’s government.
The Financial Times reported Mr Hunt could be handed up to £10bn in extra headroom against his fiscal targets in the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts, paving the way for the measure.
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Labour deputy leadership candidate accuses opponent’s team of ‘throwing mud’ and briefing against her
Lucy Powell has accused Bridget Phillipson’s team of “throwing mud” and briefing against her in the Labour deputy leadership race in a special episode of Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
With just days to go until the race is decided, Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby spoke to the two leadership rivals about allegations of leaks, questions of party unity and their political vision.
Ms Powell told Electoral Dysfunction that through the course of the contest, she had “never leaked or briefed”.
But she said of negative stories about her in the media: “I think some of these things have also come from my opponent’s team as well. And I think they need calling out.
“We are two strong women standing in this contest. We’ve both got different things to bring to the job. I’m not going to get into the business of smearing and briefing against Bridget.
“Having us airing our dirty washing, throwing mud – both in this campaign or indeed after this if I get elected as deputy leader – that is not the game that I’m in.”
Ms Powell was responding to a “Labour source” who told the New Statesman last week: “Lucy was sacked from cabinet because she couldn’t be trusted not to brief or leak.”
Ms Powell said she had spoken directly to Ms Phillipson about allegations of briefings “a little bit”.
Bridget Phillipson (l) and Lucy Powell (r) spoke to Sky News’ Beth Rigby in a special Electoral Dysfunction double-header. Pics: Reuters
Phillipson denies leaks
But asked separately if her team had briefed against Ms Powell, Ms Phillipson told Rigby: “Not to my knowledge.”
And Ms Phillipson said she had not spoken “directly” to her opponent about the claims of negative briefings, despite Ms Powell saying the pair had talked about it.
“I don’t know if there’s been any discussion between the teams,” she added.
On the race itself, the education secretary said it would be “destabilising” if Ms Powell is elected, as she is no longer in the cabinet.
“I think there is a risk that comes of airing too much disagreement in public at a time when we need to focus on taking the fight to our opponents.
“I know Lucy would reject that, but I think that is for me a key choice that members are facing.”
She added: “It’s about the principle of having that rule outside of government that risks being the problem. I think I’ll be able to get more done in government.”
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Insider vs outsider
But Ms Powell, who was recently sacked by Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the Commons, said she could “provide a stronger, more independent voice”.
“The party is withering on the vine at the same time, and people have got big jobs in government to do.
“Politics is moving really, really fast. Government is very, very slow. And I think having a full-time political deputy leader right now is the political injection we need.”
The result of the contest will be announced on Saturday 25 October.
The deputy leader has the potential to be a powerful and influential figure as the link between members and the parliamentary Labour Party, and will have a key role in election campaigns. They can’t be sacked by Sir Keir as they have their own mandate.
The contest was triggered by the resignation of Angela Rayner following a row over her tax affairs. She was also the deputy prime minister but this position was filled by David Lammy in a wider cabinet reshuffle.
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