Labour slammed by ex-military chief for ‘prioritising benefits’ | Politics | News
A former head of the UK Armed Forces has claimed the UK is too focused on welfare spending rather than funding defence. Lord Houghton of Richmond, who served as chief of the defense staff between 2013 and 2016, said the Government needed to do more to address the threat posed by Russia, adding that current decision-making still resembled “peacetime planning”.
Speaking in a House of Lords debate on the Ukraine war, the different bench member warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “see Britain as a proxy for the Americans”. Lord Houghton said: “He [Mr Putin] It will have a fully mobilized array of armed forces, a pristine suite of strategic capabilities, a fully mobilized war economy, and a window of opportunity to act; whereas NATO, and the UK in particular, currently still prioritizes social assistance over national security.” The retired senior officer also painted a worrying picture of the defence’s finances, describing it as “horrible”.
He expressed concerns that “disturbing statements” would be made about funding in the future.
Reports suggest the Ministry of Defense (MoD) is facing a black hole of more than £2bn in its budget.
Lord Houghton said none of the three key defense objectives – spending on Ukraine, resilience against hybrid threats and integration of forces – could be achieved without appropriate funding.
He said these require “huge investment”, adding: “Without such investment, we potentially fail both Ukraine and NATO, we expose society to hybrid threats and we completely undermine the only real hope of credibility that the defense review offers our armed forces.”
He continued: “Tough investment choices have always been a challenge for peacetime planners, but we should not be preoccupied with peacetime planning.
“We are facing a consequence of the current conflict that has left behind a humiliated Ukraine, a dangerous Russia and an impoverished, underfunded and threat-aware Britain. [strategic defence review].
“For the last 15 years, I have been concerned that when it comes to national security, the government of the day has consistently placed the duty of reassuring society above the duty of responding to geopolitical realities.
“We need to do more.”
During Friday’s debate, former Royal Navy chief Lord West of Spithead also expressed concerns about Moscow.
If Mr. Putin managed to defeat Ukraine, he said, he would be emboldened and “invade his next victim.”
The Labor member called for increased NATO defense spending to deter Russian aggression and warned of the potential for a Third World War.
“Our main goal should be to keep Ukraine at war until Putin realizes the financial and military damage it will inflict requires him to reach a peace agreement.”
He added: “We must manage to prevent Putin’s illegal and appalling attack on Ukraine, otherwise events may gain momentum of their own and, I believe, lead to a major world war.”
Darlington Foreign Secretary Baroness Chapman said the UK had made a “historic commitment” to spend 5 per cent of GDP on national security, following a new target set by NATO earlier this year.
He added: “This is a generational increase that underlines the UK’s commitment to national security and our leadership in NATO.”
