Quotes
The increase in spending would contribute to the UK’s defence but also to the broader defence of Europe and would feed directly into the UK’s position in NATO and its contribution to other formats for defence cooperation,
Martill said
The UK has been under pressure for years along with other European allies to increase the proportion of GDP it spends on defence and the proportion within that on R&D [research and development] and genuine investment, reflecting concerns that America is still largely bankrolling European defence,
Martill said.jpg)
It is my first duty as prime minister to keep our country safe. In an ever more dangerous world, increasing the resilience of our country so we can protect the British people, resist future shocks and bolster British interests is vital,
Starmer said, according to a government handout.jpg)
Tone deaf to dangers of the world and demands of the United States,
Wallace wrote on X,There’s pressures on public spending, and he’s [Starmer’s] giving himself a major challenge by promising not to increase various taxes but also wanting to do more on public spending in relation to defence and health and elsewhere,
Mitchell explainedNow is the time to step up and tackle poverty, conflict and insecurity, not further reduce the aid budget,
Miliband, who like Starmer is a member of the Labour Party, said in a statementBy spending more on defence, we will deliver the stability that underpins economic growth and will unlock prosperity through new jobs, skills and opportunity across the country,
he addedI don’t think there’s any doubt that there’s a need to increase defence spending, but I think that cutting that from the aid budget is self-defeating. … [As] Russia invades Ukraine, the UK’s main response is to cut its international aid budget. I think that’s a terrible look for the UK reputationally and short-sighted,
he saidWell we are at the early stages of that, and obviously I am not going to get ahead of myself until we have made decisions. But as I have said before, in terms of the big decisions on tax... obviously the Budget was the place that we took those decisions - but as ever, going into a statement I am not going to say in advance what we might do and what we might not do.”
Sir Keir declined to rule that out, stating
Getting towards 3 per cent of GDP will eventually mean more tough choices and sacrifices elsewhere – whether higher taxes or cuts to other bits of government.”
IFS associate director Ben Zaranko saidLet me not let hares running, the big decisions were in the Budget of last year and that's the way we are approaching this spring statement.”
He saidThe Cabinet had a discussion on it and we were all united that the number one responsibility of any government is to keep its citizens safe
She added
We need to remind the Government that development aid and defence spending are two sides of the same coin
But one MP saidIt is devastating that we've had to reduce the overseas aid budget, but we had to set a balanced budget.
But, speaking to broadcasters, Ms Rayner saidWhen Trump did it… he said 'we don't care about the impact'.
He is reported to have saidWho will benefit from these aid cuts? The answer is Russia and China.”
But in an article for The Independent, Mr Mitchell writesAs General Mattis famously said: the more we cut aid, the more we must spend on ammunition.”
He notesThe foreign secretary (David Lammy) himself warned that spaces we vacate would be filled by our adversaries. History will judge this to be a strategic disaster of our own making.”
He addsThe polling tells you that President Trump is very unpopular in Britain,
Mendoza said
I think what he's obviously been doing is trying to take the edge off some of President Trump's sort of more surprising statements… then trying to put Britain in the best positive light when it comes to the president's considerations,
Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society, a non-partisan U.K.-based think tank told Fox News Digital