I’m proud that our Prime Minister has been leading diplomatic efforts to bring Ukraine, the EU, the US and NATO partners together. At moments like this, it’s more important than ever that Britain shows global leadership.
It’s also right that defence spending will now rise significantly in order to confront the growing global threats we face. For the last decade, our armed forces have been criminally underfunded and hollowed out. Despite this, in the three years since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine Britain has played a key diplomatic, military and humanitarian role in supporting the Ukrainian people.
I’m particularly grateful to those - including in my constituency – who have opened their doors to Ukrainian families.
Three years on, and with the security of Europe under renewed pressure, its now right that that the Government ensures we can better protect our national security, rebuild our armed forces and reinforce our commitment to NATO. That’s why the Prime Minister announced the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War – an increase that will mean not just a modernised and better equipped armed forces, but the prospect of more jobs and economic growth as well.
As a parliamentary aide (PPS) to the Prime Minister, I’ve seen close up the PM’s resolve and determination to make sure that our armed forces have the funding and resources they need to keep us – and Europe – safe. I’ve also seen the trade-offs and hard choices Prime Ministers have to make at times like this, which includes having to reluctantly fund extra defence spending through cuts to the international aid budget.
This Prime Minister and my Party – the Party who created the Department for International Development and renewed it in 1997 – believe passionately in the soft power of Britain’s aid budget. The PM is absolutely clear that the UK step back from playing a key humanitarian role around the world in places like Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, in tackling climate change and supporting multinational efforts on global health challenges like vaccination.
But at times like this, the PM rightly decided that our own defence and security must come first. That is a decision that was not easy, but will benefit Britain, Ukraine and our allies across Europe.