𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Our country is skint, and Labour’s chronic mismanagement of the economy so far is only making matters worse. Additionally, we have an administration that is hellbent on achieving net zero climate target emissions against a backdrop of defence chiefs sounding the alarm bells that our nation is not spending enough on protecting itself and a Chancellor who is resisting calls from the Ministry of Defence for more cash. 

The time has come to slaughter the holy cow of net zero in favour of freeing up cash to invest in the future security of the UK. In all my years of writing and broadcasting about politics, Government departments have always moaned about not having enough money and about having to do more with less.

But the defence of our nation should always be paramount, and it has never been clearer that we live in unpredictable and unprecedented geopolitical times. It is not just Labour who should carry the can for poor defence spending, previous Conservative governments could have done much more to ensure our navy, army and air force were fit for the future. Sadly, as is often the case in modern politics, tough decisions were deferred while our military capability got smaller and weaker.

An over-reliance on NATO and the UK/US special relationship also gave many prime ministers a sense of false security when it came to protecting our nation. The Conservatives also have a case to answer when it comes to net zero. It was Prime Minister Theresa May who set the UK’s legally binding net zero emissions target by 2050 while she was in Downing Street.

Thankfully, the current Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has vowed to scrap the Climate Change Act if her party wins the next General Election. It beggars belief that Sir Keir Starmer’s Government appears to be prioritising hitting net zero targets over defence spending.

Reports suggest that his Cabinet is split on finding more cash for our armed forces, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves adamant there is no more funding to be had.

The numbers involved are stark. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Defence Staff, is understood to have told the Prime Minister in a meeting before Christmas that there is a £28 billion hole in defence spending that urgently needs to be filled if Britain is to continue to have a robust military capability.

And while this debate rages on, a report from an energy consultancy once again casts doubt on the UK’s ability to hit Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s 2030 clean power targets without significant additional funding. Consultancy Wood Mackenzie states the UK simply does not have enough solar or wind alternatives to decarbonise the grid and that the targets are unachievable unless Mr Miliband finds an extra £75billion. 

Other eye-watering numbers in the mix include Parliament’s Committee on Climate Change stating that achieving net zero between now and 2050 will cost £108 billion. 

This Government has done an excellent job so far since coming into office on U-turns, so it should now look at its current commitment and obsession with hitting net zero targets over the coming years and watering them down or scrapping them to urgently address other funding priorities.

We know that the Prime Minister recognises the need for greater defence spending, as he told other world leaders at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month that we need to spend more money, faster. Last year, he pledged to spend 2.5% of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) on core defence by April 2027, along with an “ambition” of raising that spending to 3% of GDP in the next Parliament. It is now being suggested that this 3% ambition should be achieved by the end of the current Parliament, and rightly so.

As well as facing opposition from his Chancellor, the Prime Minister would no doubt face challenges from his own backbench MPs if it came to greater defence spending, as many of them would rather see extra cash spent on welfare or the health service. 

Presumably, they think we can bash back any invading forces with rolled-up copies of the Labour manifesto. There would also be outrage from his MPs if he dared to tinker with the current costly net zero targets and possibly even the resignation of Ed Miliband, which would be politically problematic for him personally. 

The continued funding of achieving net zero must be up for debate, particularly at a time when our nation needs more money for defence. Aiming for green and clean energy is all very well, but not while we run the risk of staring down the barrel of a Russian or Chinese gun