Jeremy Hunt slams Labour’s ‘reckless’ plans to cut defence spending in the upcoming budget – urging that the fragile global climate demands security reassurances _ Hieuuk
Jeremy Hunt has condemned Labour over ‘reckless’ plans to cut defence spending in the Budget.
The former chancellor said the fragile global situation meant military spending should be spared from any squeeze on October 30.
Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed this week that his department would be required to ‘do its part’ as Chancellor Rachel Reeves seeks billions of pounds in savings to help offset the cost of inflation-busting pay rises for public sector workers.
Mr Hunt told the Mail: ‘It is not the case that all spending is bad, and one of the things that disheartens me the most is to see huge pay rises for public sector unions without asking for any productivity gains in return, at the same time as defence spending is being cut.
‘It is impossible to look around the world and see what’s happening in Ukraine and the extraordinary effort… to look at the aggression that we’re seeing from China in the South China Sea… no responsible prime minister will ever cut defence spending against that backdrop.’
Hunt: ‘No responsible prime minister will ever cut defence spending against that backdrop’
The new Chancellor is believed to be looking to scrap defence projects to save money. File
‘That is a massive concern, which speaks to this government’s priorities – that the unions count for more than the defence of the nation. It is simply reckless.’
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Ms Reeves is thought to be looking to scrap several defence projects as she scrambles to find money to fill an alleged £22 billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances.
Mr Hunt dismissed the claim, pointing out that almost half the sum was accounted for by Ms Reeves’s decision to fund bumper pay rises for public sector workers.
And he said the decision to scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme meant huge sums had been wasted – and that spending on dealing with the Channel crisis was likely to rise further.
The former chancellor said his successor’s claims were ‘falling apart’.
He added: ‘It’s a big fat lie to justify tax rises.
‘The reality is that the two biggest components of the so-called black hole are £9.5 billion to give the unions double-inflation, triple-inflation, in the case of the junior doctors, nine-times-inflation pay rises – which was a political choice they made – and £6 billion on the asylum bill, which is higher than it would have been because they decided to cancel Rwanda, which is another political choice.’
Soldiers demonstrate the EXO Insight glasses – an eye tracking virtual behaviour monitoring system – in Salisbury, October 2021
Mr Hunt said claims about the so-called black hole were ‘falling apart’ under scrutiny
Mr Hunt also warned that looming tax rises would wreck Labour’s ambition to boost growth, adding: ‘What I think is most likely to happen is that taxes are going to go up.
‘I tried religiously to avoid tax rises that damaged growth, because growth was my absolute priority.
‘My worry about this Budget is that we’re going to mortgage the future with a whole bunch of tax rises that destroy opportunity and aspiration for the future.’
