I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and for the presentation of this paper, which shows a far greater strategic awareness of the vulnerability that the whole of the west faces than we would have seen in any document just a few years ago. But is not the ghost at the feast still the money? I very much welcome his commitment to 2.5% of GDP for defence, but when are we going to see our armed forces restored to the critical mass that is capable of deterring the kind of aggression we are seeing in Ukraine and the kind of aggressive policies we are seeing from China? The £5 billion announced today will patch up what we should have been spending already, but it is not going to make a huge difference.
Integrated Review Refresh
Proceeding contribution from
Bernard Jenkin
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Monday, 13 March 2023.
It occurred during Ministerial statement on Integrated Review Refresh.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
729 c553 
Session
2022-23
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2024-04-11 18:57:34 +0100
URI
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