“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 …
The Military Balance 2022, published today by The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) ranks the UK as the country with the third highest military spending in 2021, after the US and China. The IISS ranked the UK as the fourth largest spender in 2020 (behind India) and fifth for 2019 (after Russia). The changes …
On Monday the UK Ministry of Defence released its first ‘Defence Space Strategy‘ ominously sub-titled ‘Operationalising the Space Domain’. The report contained new spending commitments of an additional £1.4bn over 10 years to “to protect UK interests in space”, though it did not define what these interest might be. While we might wonder why a …
More than 50 Nobel Laureates have launched the Peace Dividend campaign calling for a reduction in international military spending of 2% per year over the next 5 years. Half of this money would be ring-fenced for pandemic control, climate change mitigation and the alleviation of extreme poverty. While many would wish to see a more …
Our review of yesterday’s UK budget figures reveals that in this parliament the UK government will spend over seven times as much on the military as on reducing national carbon emissions. It also reveals the impact of the UK’s changing foreign policy priorities, with any ‘savings’ from the 30% cut in overseas aid more than …
19 October 2021 UPDATE: HEAT & Buildings Strategy released Last night the UK Government annouced its Heat & Buildings Strategy . A disappointing document which commits only one-third of the new funding requested in the Great Homes Upgrade (below) and widely criticised as as a missed opportunity. Initial reactions “It’s not going to close the …
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, …
1. Militarism diverts crucial resources from the climate emergency After the failure of the G7 to reach meaningful agreement under UK leadership, there is serious concern for the vital COP26 negotiations. Government spending to reduce UK carbon emissions is dwarfed by new spending on weapons of war. 2. The military Industrial complex is fuelling climate …
Today marks the final withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan after almost 20 years. What did the conflict cost us and what lessons does it provide for ‘Global Britain’? Human suffering It would be callous to discuss resource and opportunity costs before first reflecting on the monumental human cost of the conflict, in particular that …
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) today released it’s report into world wide spending on nuclear weapons in 2020. The report found that despite the pandemic, spending on weapons of mass destruction actually increased by $1.4 billion to an eyewatering $72.6 billion. According to the report the United Kingdom spent £4.46 billion ($6.2 …
