UK Military Spending

Eight reasons why we shouldn’t increase UK military spending

Image of F35-B lightning jets on the HMS Queen Elizabeth

The UK government is considering increasing its military budget in the wake of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It claims that the range of military threats now faced by Britain are greater than those it identified in a 2021 government review. Below are eight reasons why we think the UK’s military budget should …

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GCOMS on Warrior Nation Podcast

Warrior Nation Podcast logo

We were pleased to be asked to discuss the work of GCOMS UK on the Warrior Nation Podcast, produced by ForcesWatch one of our newest UK supporting organisations. As the sentiment goes, there always seems to be money for warfare but never quite enough for welfare. So what’s the picture in the UK – that …

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Key points from the UK 2022 Spring Statement

The UK government’s Spring Statement announced that its core budget for the military, for the four years 2021-25, has been slightly increased from that given its Autumn Budget to £190.9 billion. The increase is £0.4bn, which includes £0.1bn of military aid (to date) for Ukraine. This expenditure level follows the largest increase in military spending …

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Is the invasion of Ukraine really the fault of NATO under-spending?

“Instead of peace through strength we caused war through weakness… other democratic powers, especially in Europe, must commit to matching US defence spending as a proportion of GDP.” Jeremy Hunt MP, writing in The Telegraph 11/03/22 As the world watches in horror the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an extremely dangerous narrative is emerging. One that …

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How British military spending is plagued by inefficiency and spiralling costs

On 14 September the British Government-backed arms fair Defence and Security Equipment International was launched in London. A biennial defence and security trade exhibition that in 2019 welcomed 1,700 exhibitors from 58 countries, it has been the source of much criticism arising from concerns that a British-backed arm trade helps fuel human rights abuses worldwide.  Despite such ethical concerns, …

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