UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has argued that the British army might grow rather than shrink if the new prime minister embarks on a policy of spending tens of billions of pounds more on the military in the face of growing challenges.
In an interview with Sky News earlier this week, Wallace said he thinks “defense needs more money because the threat has gone up and” he is “threat-led”.
He recalled that at present, UK defense spending is 2.28% of national income and it is “falling”.
“We [Britain] are forecast to be below 2% probably in the year 2026 - it might be (financial year) 2025-26 or 2026-2027. We are going down. We will go from the first (biggest defense spender) in Europe to eighth in Europe and carry on falling,” according to the UK defense secretary.
When asked how a surge in defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 might impact on the size and capabilities of the UK army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, Wallace said that certain equipment programs would probably be purchased faster.
“I think you would see an increase in the numbers of the army, but not necessarily where people think,” he noted.
Separately, the UK defense secretary pledged that British army officials would carry out a review of what lessons can be drawn from Russia's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine in terms of vulnerabilities for UK defense, something that he said is set to include a requirement for more long-range artillery systems.
Wallace, who has yet to say publicly whether he is backing Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or former Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest, told Sky News that he was “going to see what happens in the [subsequent] debates”.
“I know them both very, very well […]. I am interested in what they are going to say on defense,” he said, referring to Truss and Sunak.
The foreign secretary previously made it clear that she would increase the UK’s defense spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the decade, if she becomes prime minister. The ex-chancellor, for his part, stressed that he is opposed to "arbitrary targets", suggesting that British defense spending would rise to 2.5% “over time”.
In March 2021, Wallace said that the size of the British army is due to be reduced to 72,500 soldiers by 2025 as part of the government’s defense review that stipulates a move towards unmanned aerial vehicles and cyber warfare. Speaking in the Commons, he emphasized that “increased deployability and technological advantage” meant that greater effect could be delivered by fewer people.