UK Defence Cuts Will Have Profound Effect, Warns US Diplomat

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Proposed cuts in British defence spending could not come at a worse time, says former US ambassador to the UN

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

Europe Must Increase Defence Spending In Face Of Russian Aggression, Warns Chuck Hagel

US Defence Secretary warns aggression in Ukraine should shatter myth that risk of conflict has reduced since Cold War as British Secretary of Defence warns Vladimir Putin not to breach "red line" around Nato nations

Read the Telegraph article here | Ben Farmer, video by Heathcliff O'Malley | Friday, May 02, 2014

Britain's Military Power Is Waning, Thinktank Warns David Cameron

THE GUARDIAN: Report says arms spending has fallen behind Saudi Arabia's, challenging PM's claim that UK remains in fourth place

Britain's role as one of the world's leading military powers is under threat, an authoritative thinktank warns in a report that directly challenges claims by the prime minister, David Cameron.

The UK has fallen behind Saudi Arabia and is now fifth in the arms expenditure league table, says the latest annual Military Balance survey, published by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Responding to US criticism of cuts in military spending, Cameron repeatedly insisted that Britain still had the fourth biggest defence budget.

"We have the fourth largest defence budget anywhere in the world. We are a first-class player in terms of defence and, as long as I am prime minister, that is the way it will stay," Cameron said last month after the former US defence secretary Robert Gates said cuts meant Britain's armed forces were no longer able to stand by the US as a "full partner".

The IISS survey makes it clear that while military spending is falling in the UK and throughout the west, it is rising fast elsewhere, notably in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Greater defence spending will lead to a relative shift towards Asia and away from Europe in a new balance of military power, the report suggests.

The US remains by far the world's biggest spender on weapons, with a defence budget last year amounting to over $600bn (£370bn), followed by China ($112.2bn), Russia ($68.2bn), Saudi Arabia (an estimated $59.6bn) and the UK ($57bn). » | Richard Norton-Taylor | Wednesday, February 05, 2014