My right hon. Friend is right. No NATO rules have been broken—we can argue about whether there was any new money, or whether it was money that we could have counted in the past but did not. Surely the important point is that the 2% is not a target for us: it is a minimum. The last time we faced threats of the sort we face now was in the 1980s, when we spent between 4% and 5% of GDP on defence. We are not talking about ringing church bells over 2%; we need to raise our sights to a higher figure altogether.
Europe, Human Rights and Keeping People Safe at Home and Abroad
Proceeding contribution from
Julian Lewis
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 24 May 2016.
It occurred during Queen's speech debate on Europe, Human Rights and Keeping People Safe at Home and Abroad.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
611 c428 
Session
2016-17
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2022-09-14 23:30:30 +0100
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