Government must increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, say Lib Dems
Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics.
The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said the government must swiftly ramp up defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said:
I’ve never known a time like this, it is probably one of the most alarming times for Britain’s defence and security since the second world war, with our closest ally changing their position. So we have to debate it, it is going to be difficult.
I don’t think there’s an easy solution, but we have put some ideas on the table. One idea we have put is to increase the digital services taxes, a tax on about 20 multinational companies with turnovers of over £500m and we would raise it from the current 2% to 10%.
That would raise the vast bulk of what you’d need to move quickly to the 2.5% of national income spending on our defence and our country’s defence.
Davey also said he wanted to see Russian assets, frozen across Europe since the war began, used to support Ukraine and build up Britain defences.
In other news:
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Foreign secretary David Lammy is in South Africa for the second day of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.
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Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to tackle the “waiting times emergency” in the NHS.
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The Scottish Labour party conference runs until Sunday. Today’s speakers include Scottish secretary Ian Murray and Labour party leader Anas Sarwar
Key events
Pilot of domestic abuse experts helping in 999 call rooms begins in England
Jessica Murray
Domestic abuse specialists embedded in control rooms receiving 999 emergency calls will help “create force-wide cultural change”, said Jess Phillips as the first phase of “Raneem’s law” was rolled out across England.
The new law is named in memory of Raneem Oudeh, who was killed alongside her mother, Khaola Saleem, in Solihull by Oudeh’s ex-husband, whom she had reported to the police at least seven times, as well as making four 999 calls on the night she was murdered.
An inquest found police failings “materially contributed” to their deaths.
The new policy, which will involve domestic abuse specialists working in 999 control rooms to give feedback on responses to emergency calls, is being piloted in five police forces, and could be rolled out across the whole of England and Wales by the end of the year.
You can read the full report here:
Thirty English councils granted exceptional financial support packages
Patrick Butler
A record 30 English local authorities have been granted effective “bailouts” enabling them to borrow money to avoid bankruptcy, as ministers advised them against selling off prized local assets such as historic buildings, parks and allotments.
The councils, all of whom were experiencing “unmanageable” financial pressures, were given the green light by ministers to collectively borrow £1.5bn to plug significant budget gaps caused by underfunding and soaring demand for social care and other services.
Three councils – Birmingham, Bradford, and Windsor and Maidenhead – will each be allowed to borrow more than £100m this year to stay afloat, while also being allowed to issue cap-busting council tax bill increases of up to 10%.
Six councils who are in special measures after declaring effective bankruptcy in recent years – Birmingham, Croydon, Nottingham, Slough, Thurrock and Woking – have again been granted special financial help.
The exceptional financial support (EFS) packages enable councils to take out capital loans to fund revenue spending, on the basis they will pay down the debt in future by disposing of assets and cutting back on frontline services.
Read the full report here:
We have more from Ed Davey’s interview on the Today programme.
He said the prime minister would not be reflecting the views of the British people if he did not speak frankly with Donald Trump during an upcoming a visit to Washington.
He challenged Keir Starmer to confront the US President on the US’s sharp shift in foreign policy on Ukraine, and his recent remarks about the war, PA Media reports.
He said:
It is a very difficult visit there’s no doubt about that, but I do think you have to speak to your friends honestly and openly.
The threat that Donald Trump poses to our economy and security is as serious as I can ever remember.
Whether it’s the threat of terror to our country, indeed to our friends in the Commonwealth and Europe, or whether it’s what he’s saying with president Putin and Russia and Ukraine, I think we’re all astonished and deeply alarmed, and if the British prime minister doesn’t reflect that, he’s not reflecting the views of the British people.
Government must increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, say Lib Dems
Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics.
The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said the government must swiftly ramp up defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said:
I’ve never known a time like this, it is probably one of the most alarming times for Britain’s defence and security since the second world war, with our closest ally changing their position. So we have to debate it, it is going to be difficult.
I don’t think there’s an easy solution, but we have put some ideas on the table. One idea we have put is to increase the digital services taxes, a tax on about 20 multinational companies with turnovers of over £500m and we would raise it from the current 2% to 10%.
That would raise the vast bulk of what you’d need to move quickly to the 2.5% of national income spending on our defence and our country’s defence.
Davey also said he wanted to see Russian assets, frozen across Europe since the war began, used to support Ukraine and build up Britain defences.
In other news:
-
Foreign secretary David Lammy is in South Africa for the second day of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.
-
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to tackle the “waiting times emergency” in the NHS.
-
The Scottish Labour party conference runs until Sunday. Today’s speakers include Scottish secretary Ian Murray and Labour party leader Anas Sarwar
