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Military spending boosted more than health, education, environment or overseas aid

This short briefing examines UK government spending presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, in his Spring Budget 2023 (SB-23).i Summary The detailed figures for SB-23 show that UK military spending over the period 2021-25 has been boosted by £7.1 billion when compared with budget figures announced in last autumn. This includes an …

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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 Budget Briefing on the Autumn Statement

31/10/2022. London, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to discuss the upcoming fiscal event in the Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street

This short briefing examines UK government spending presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, in his Autumn Statement 2022 (AS-22). Summary Probably the main story of AS-22 – in terms of military spending – is that there isn’t actually a great deal to report. Despite the bluster of the Truss government’s promise to …

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GCOMS UK AGM & Budget Briefing

As we approach the third budget statement in as many months on the 17th of November, public spending cuts are again on the agenda. Yet even after the biggest increases in military spending in a generation during this Parliament, the UK Defence Minister is discussing a further £52bn increase in the midst of a desperate …

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New Report: ‘NATO, building global insecurity’

New publication by Centre Delàs of Peace Studies, in collaboration with IPB and GCOMS, providing a critical analysis of NATO’s role in the construction of a global scale warmongering security, and including historical, gender & climate justice perspectives. #NATOsquareOne A few days before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Madrid (June 29 and …

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New report reveals UK spent $6.8bn on nuclear weapons in 2021

A new report, ‘Squandered: 2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending,’ by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) shows that in 2021, the year before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nine nuclear-armed states spent $82.4 billion on their nuclear weapons, a further increase on 2020 spending. The report shows that it is not just governments …

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UK report on GDAMS 2022

While events this year were overshadowed by the horrifying events in Ukraine, the movement came together to highlight the continued failure of military solutions to tackle the existential problems we face. Street demonstrations, Vigils & Stalls The first event of GDAMS in the UK was a demonstration on the evening of April 11th at Menwith …

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SIPRI: Global Spending Hits $2 Trillion / UK £50bn for 1st time

Today’s launch of the annual Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) figures on military spending makes chilling reading. SIPRI estimates global military expenditure last year was at least $2,113 billion (US), the first time it has exceeded $2 trillion (US): an average of more than $5.78 billion (US) every day. This represents a 6.1% nominal …

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