How Scotland and Trident would benefit the most from 2.5% defence spending rise
Scotland could benefit the most from an increase in defence spending, a Labour MP has claimed, amid claims to funnel more money into protecting the country against the threat posed by Russia.
Graeme Downie, the MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, claimed Scotland was at the “forefront of the UK’s defence”, and warned the target of spending 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence must be a “floor, not a ceiling”.
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Speaking to The Scotsman, Mr Downie stressed the importance of defence spending to the UK’s economy, and insisted the threat of Russia showed Britain must be ready to intervene when required.
His intervention comes as internal Ministry of Defence calculations suggested the UK must spend 3.6 per cent of GDP on defence if it is to modernise the military, protect the nuclear deterrent and meet Nato obligations.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday defended his decision not to set out a date for spending 2.5 per cent of Britain’s GDP on defence until a strategic defence review had been completed.
Mr Downie has spoken in the Commons about the importance of all five of the Type 31 warships being built in Rosyth, in his own constituency.
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Hide AdDiscussing Scotland, Mr Downie said: “Scotland already benefits from defence spending. Scotland is absolutely at the forefront of the UK's defence and indeed Nato’s [defence].
“We’ve got QRA, quick reaction alert aircraft at Lossiemouth defending the northern border. We’ve got the nuclear deterrent based at Faslane, we’ve got ship construction on the Clyde, as well as in Rosyth. We’ve got training grounds for the marines, the army. Off the coast we’ve got training grounds that are used by Nato for major airborne and sea exercises.
“Scotland is already a huge part of the defence industry and the defence of the country. If there’s a place that can benefit the most from defence spending, Scotland is always going to be one of those areas. We have the skills, the heritage and we have the capabilities.”
Asked if he thinks the SNP agreed that defence spending should go up, Mr Downie said some MPs had claimed this, but this was not reflected in Holyrood.
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Hide AdHe said: "I have seen some SNP MPs say that [defence spending should increase] and yet at the same time the Scottish Government has not engaged with the defence sector at all.
"I did an FOI [Freedom of Information request] a few weeks back and we found out that the SNP have never actually met, for the last four years at least, with Babcock, which is not only a defence company in Scotland, it’s the largest engineering company in Scotland.
“They have never really taken an interest in defence, that’s been fairly historic. I think that’s wrong, given the size and importance of the defence sector to Scotland from an industrial perspective, but also the role that Scotland plays in the defence of the UK."
Discussing the 2.5 per cent target, Mr Downie argued this should be a starting point and the figure may have to rise.
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He said: “I think one of the things we need to do is make sure the British public are more aware of the situation we have in the world, the global instability we're still seeing and what that means for the UK.
“The Labour Government has quite rightly committed to 2.5 per cent defence spend, and I think we'll need to increasingly make sure we see that as a floor as much as a ceiling.
“I think there’s issues around spending that money correctly, efficiently, and spending it on the things that make Britain ready to fight, or ready to become involved in international conflicts. We also need to make sure we don’t see 2.5 per cent as something that when it’s reached, we’ve reached our goal.
“We need defence spending that is correct for the unstable world that we live in.”
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Hide AdPraising Britain’s armed forces, Mr Downie, who won his seat with a 8,241 majority, argued failing to invest would embolden tyrants like Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He said: “Britain still has a major international role as a military player. Our Royal Navy is looked upon as an exemplar fleet that is observed and copied by others. We've got to make sure we're doing our part along with France, Germany, and other European and global partners.
“Without that, you do end up in a situation where someone like Vladimir Putin does not feel deterred from taking additional action in Europe. That's why we need to make sure we're doing it. I think the other thing we need to do is see defence spending as part of our economy.
“Defence is included in the industrial strategy as one of the target areas, I think that’s absolutely right, but it’s about not seeing spending on the defence as the end, thinking ‘oh, we’ve just bought a boat’. That is a skill you are developing at that time. It’s skills that we need in engineering, in the space sector and different technologies.”
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Hide AdDiscussing global threats, Mr Downie warned the war in Ukraine was not the only conflict requiring British investment.
He said: “If you look at Estonia, Poland, Finland, they're all increasing their military spending. There's a reason for that. Just look who their neighbours are, they know how this goes.
“They know they need to deter Russian aggression and that’s not just a case of making sure you've got tanks on the ground, it’s making sure that Russia sees how much you're spending on the payments, that you're taking a threat seriously. The UK is already helping and supporting Ukraine, as we should. But whatever happens in Ukraine, that Russian aggression is not going to just disappear overnight. That is going to maintain for years.
“We’re seeing North Korea in Ukraine, we’re seeing the role of Iran in providing ammunition. All these different global conflicts are slowly kind of zipping up and joining up together, and that really presents a picture of the unstable world that we're living.”
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Hide AdA Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government recognises the role of the sector in the Scottish economy and regularly engages with ADS Scotland as the industry body on key areas such as skills.”
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