OPINION

       Donald Trump has shown us that Labour Party drastically needs to wake up now (Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

       On September 14th last year, I wrote in the Express about the urgent need to increase defence spending, stating that “the safety and security of our country depends on it”. But if higher defence spending was urgent five months ago, following events in the last 24 hours it’s now critical.

       With President Trump and his Secretary of State for Defence being clear that they want to focus attention on the threat from China, we are going to have to do more of the heavy lifting to face down the Russian threat closer to home. Of course, that means our European NATO allies will have to do a lot more as well, particularly those whom Trump has rightly criticised for spending less than the 2% NATO target – let alone the 2.5% target we planned for at the election, and which Labour have promised, though not yet delivered.

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       Of course, we must proceed incredibly carefully with any negotiations over Ukraine. As I said in the Commons on Thursday, after the Speaker granted me an Urgent Question on Ukraine, if there is a settlement which Russia is seen to ‘win’, the danger for all NATO members is that this will simply embolden our other adversaries – such as China.

       In particular, Ukraine must be closely and directly involved in any negotiations; it is a democracy, illegally invaded without provocation by an aggressive dictator.

       Inevitably, some are now speculating about the possibility of a European ‘peacekeeping force’ to police any deal. Whilst we should be wary of assuming such an outcome, whatever happens, European NATO nations should be doing everything possible to boost spending and get into warfighting shape.

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       When I wrote about defence spending in this paper last September, as a former Defence Procurement Minister I explained that a multi-year plan to increase spending to 2.5% of GDP - as we set out last April – would have enabled the MOD to start ordering the weapons, munitions and kit we so desperately need. Without certainty over funding it can’t do that; with it, we can place orders at the scale and pace necessary to strengthen our forces and deter our adversaries.

       So I sincerely hope that Labour now wake up to the reality of our position – defence spending needs to rise, and do so as soon as possible. With so many other nations looking to rearm, we really do need to get on with it – or be left behind in the queue.

       It’s unacceptable that the Government is rushing through a deal to spend billions renting back our military base on Diego Garcia, whilst delaying higher defence spending.

       I am incredibly proud of the role our Party played in Government, when the United Kingdom’s staunch support helped Ukraine avoid the total collapse in 2022 that would have been disastrous for them and for our own security.

       We have led before and we can lead again – but the brilliant men and women of our armed forces must have the tools to do the job.