Boris Johnson Under Pressure to Boost Defence Spending to Counter Russia Threat

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the start of the first plenary session of the NATO summit at the Ifema congress centre in Madrid, on June 29, 2022. Gabriel Bouys /AFP via Getty Images

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure from senior Cabinet ministers and military chiefs to boost defence spending in response to the renewed threat posed by Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

The prime minister, who will call on allies to invest more to modernise European defence at the NATO summit in Madrid, has faced calls to further increase the UK’s own defence expenditure, according to a statement on June 29 from 10 Downing Street.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on June 28 that the UK needs to boost its investment in defence before it is too late.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace arrives to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting at Downing Street on June 7, 2022. Carl Court/Getty Images

In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), he said the £24 billion ($29 billion) increase announced in the 2020 spending review has been a “strong start,” but more action is needed to reverse the cuts made by successive governments—both Conservative and Labour—following the Cold War to cash in on the so-called “peace dividend.”

“For too long defence has lived on a diet of smoke and mirrors, hollowed-out formations, and fantasy savings when in the last few years threats from states have started to increase.”

Wallace said Russia is currently “the most direct and pressing threat,” and “there is a very real danger Russia will lash out against wider Europe.”

“It is now time to signal that the peace dividend is over and investment needs to continue to grow before it becomes too late to address the resurgent threat and the lessons learned in Ukraine,” he said. “It is time to mobilise, be ready, and be relevant.”

Army Cuts ‘Perverse’

Also speaking at the event, the new head of the British Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, said any further cuts to the size of the army—which is set to shrink from a target figure of 82,000 troops to 72,500—would be “perverse.”

The main opposition Labour Party also criticised the military cuts.

Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: “The prime minister keeps breaking his defence pledges to the British public. With threats increasing and rising Russian threats, ministers must reboot defence plans and halt army cuts now.”

Downing Street defended the government’s record on defence funding, insisting the benefits of new technology and kit outweighed cuts in the number of soldiers.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are still of the view that we have set out with this massive increase in defence funding is the right one because it would be wrong—given what we are seeing play out in front of our eyes—to focus solely on numbers when we can see the impact that the latest technologies, equipment, training, intelligence are having.”

PA Media contributed to this report.