New UK cabinet faces old defence budget troubles
Backtracking or cutting into the defence budget while military tensions in Europe are high would be a politically complicated move. (Photo: UK MoD/Crown Copyright)
Pressure on the UK government is not easing despite a new Prime Minister taking office. There are plenty of questions as to how Rishi Sunak and his chancellor are planning to sustain defence spending amidst growing economic troubles.
The freshly appointed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in no easy position. After a tumultuous few months of political and economic drama, Sunak and his chancellor Jeremy Hunt delayed the UK’s economic statement to November 17.
This statement aims to set out how the government is going to fill a £40 billion ($46,3 billion) hole in its fiscal plans and will likely set the pace of defence spending as well.
At the end of September, then-Prime Minister Liz Truss pledged to increase spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2026 and 3% by 2030. This commitment came under risk as
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