One of America’s leading diplomats has said he finds cuts to British defence spending “extremely troubling” and has called on the next government to spend two per cent of GDP on the military.
John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN and a leading Republican spokesman on foreign affairs, said any further cuts in defence spending would make Britain “far more vulnerable militarily” and send a signal to potential enemies that “there is a diminished will in the West to defend itself”.
He warned that further cuts in defence expenditure could seriously affect future coalition operations with the US.
“The decline in British defence spending is extremely troubling,” Mr Bolton said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph. “It means Britain will be far more vulnerable militarily.
“A diminished UK military strength also has a more profound effect internationally because it is a sign to our mutual enemies that there is a diminished will in the West to defend itself. It sends an extremely negative signal to our enemies.”
At a time when the West faced growing threats from countries such as Russia and China, as well as Islamic State (Isil) militants in the Middle East, he said it was vital that Britain retained the military strength to participate in future coalition operations with the US. » | Con Coughlin, Defence Editor | Sunday, April 05, 2015
