Britons could be hit with higher taxes to pay for defence spending, warns Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves has warned that Britons could be hit with higher taxes to pay for defence spending.
The Chancellor suggested that further tax rises could come in the autumn budget because "borrowing can’t be the only answer".
Ms Reeves told an investor conference: "The money has to come from somewhere. Everyone can see the challenges. We are spending 2.6 per cent of GDP [on defence] from next April and the pressures are only going in one direction."
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to approve a £13.5billion increase for the armed forces, in an attempt to reach a 2.5 per cent GDP target, in an announcement expected as soon as Friday.
But Defence Secretary John Healey has warned the figure risks undermining Britain’s credibility in Nato.
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the former Nato secretary-general who was the lead author of the Government’s defence review, told the Commons Scottish affairs committee: “The country has to be defended. The threat to our liberty, our freedom, our way of life is no longer theoretical.
“We see vividly every day in reality what is happening in the streets of Ukraine. We are under-prepared, we are under-insured, we are under attack and our country is not safe.
"If we’re going to be safe and we want to have the war-fighting readiness that alone will stop anyone from attacking us, then we need to move and we need to move fast."
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Keir Starmer could SCRAP Royal Navy's new destroyers despite warnings Britain's safety 'in peril'
Sir Keir Starmer could scrap the next generation of Royal Navy destroyers in his long-overdue defence plan.
The Prime Minister could delay - or drop - plans to build Type 83 destroyers, which would have replaced the Navy's ageing fleet of Type 45 destroyers between 2035 and 2038.
The plans have been put on the backburner amid a bitter funding row between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Treasury over Sir Keir's Defence Investment Plan (DIP).
A final decision on the new class of destroyer would be decided ahead of the long-delayed plan's publication - potentially Thursday - but officials are still negotiating what projects the Government will fund.
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