Ex-Armed Forces Minister tells LBC spending on defence needs to come before spending on benefits
31 January 2023, 08:33 | Updated: 31 January 2023, 08:34
Ex-MoD Minister says defence spending needs to come before benefits
Former Armed Forces Minister has said defence spending is more vital to the UK than spending money on "out-of-work benefits."
Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC Lord Andrew Robathan urged the government to be "ruthless" and admit spending on national defence "matters more than everything else."
Lord Robathan told Nick the UK now has a "paltry number of tanks," citing the case of Ukraine.
The MoD has revealed Ukrainian troops have arrived in the UK to begin training to use Challenger 2 tanks after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed to deliver a squadron of tanks to the country to aid their efforts in re-taking territory lost to Russian forces.
Four British Army Challenger 2 main battle tanks will reportedly be sent to eastern Europe immediately, with eight more to follow shortly afterwards.
Admitting it was "difficult to find money" to fund defence the Tory Peer told LBC the UK needed to "defend the country and its interests abroad before we start spending money on, for instance, on working aged people on benefits."
"'We need to be ruthless and say defence matters much more than anything else."
The conversation comes after the Government said the armed forces are in "urgent need" of cash, and admitted there had been serial under-investment in the army over decades".
Ministers were been reacting to reports that a senior US general told the British Defence Secretary that the UK military is no longer a top-level power.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he blamed inaction by previous governments for failing to provide enough funding.
"We need to be ruthless and say defence matters much more than anything else!"
The news follows years of cuts to the British armed forces, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlighting an increased need for investment and upgraded capabilities.
