Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said that it is not possible to increase real military spending against the backdrop of high inflation in the kingdom.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, Hunt agrees with the statements of British military leaders about the increase in external threats in the light of the conflict in Ukraine, but does not see the possibility of allocating additional funds for the modernization of the Royal Armed Forces due to inflation, which has reached a record level of 10.5%.
According to Sky News sources, the British military leadership is pushing for an increase in the country’s military budget, which currently stands at £48.6bn a year, by at least £3bn a year.
In addition, the channel stressed that the government, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, may delay the publication of a new comprehensive review on UK security, defense and foreign policy, which should not be published on March 7, but after Hunt submits the spring budget to the Cabinet Ministers on 15 March.
And Sky News reported, citing sources on January 30, that a senior US military leader said in a secret conversation with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in the fall of 2022 that the British army was no longer on the list of senior US military. leaders, and in terms of the level of combat power, Russia, unlike the United States, Russia, China and France, is more likely to belong to such countries as Germany and Italy.
The channel also indicated that the United States sent a signal to Britain to abandon the policy of cutting military spending in light of the conflict in Ukraine.
Source: TASS