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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Defence spending: Private Member's Bill calls for 2% UK law | Defence spending: Private Member's Bill calls for 2% UK law |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| A former Conservative defence minister wants to make it law for the UK to spend at least 2% of its national income on defence. | A former Conservative defence minister wants to make it law for the UK to spend at least 2% of its national income on defence. |
| Sir Gerald Howarth MP will set out the proposal in a Private Member's Bill. | |
| Downing Street said David Cameron would not be allowing government time for it to be debated. | Downing Street said David Cameron would not be allowing government time for it to be debated. |
| Ministers are under pressure to commit to Nato's target that members should spend at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence every year. | Ministers are under pressure to commit to Nato's target that members should spend at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence every year. |
| Nato figures show the UK is one of just five of the organisation's 28 member states to meet the target this year. | Nato figures show the UK is one of just five of the organisation's 28 member states to meet the target this year. |
| 'Unconscionable' | |
| But ministers have refused to say whether the government will do so in future, despite pressure from military chiefs, some Conservative MPs and the United States. | But ministers have refused to say whether the government will do so in future, despite pressure from military chiefs, some Conservative MPs and the United States. |
| The government has said its plans for future defence spending will be announced in Chancellor George Osborne's autumn spending review. | |
| The new chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, Conservative Julian Lewis, said he was "baffled" by the government's position. | |
| In his first interview since being elected to the role, he said it would be "unconscionable" to drop below 2% of GDP, saying that the "worsening situation" in terms of global security meant that defence spending should be nearer 3%. | |
| Mr Howarth's bill is unlikely to get through Parliament without help from the government, BBC political correspondent Carole Walker says, so it puts the government on the spot. | Mr Howarth's bill is unlikely to get through Parliament without help from the government, BBC political correspondent Carole Walker says, so it puts the government on the spot. |
| It will have to decide whether to support a new law with huge implications for future spending or to back away from a Nato target that has been strongly endorsed by the prime minister. | It will have to decide whether to support a new law with huge implications for future spending or to back away from a Nato target that has been strongly endorsed by the prime minister. |
| Asked whether Mr Cameron would give his backing to Sir Gerald's backbench legislation, the prime minister's official spokeswoman said: "In terms of the bill, I don't expect it to be given government time." | Asked whether Mr Cameron would give his backing to Sir Gerald's backbench legislation, the prime minister's official spokeswoman said: "In terms of the bill, I don't expect it to be given government time." |
| This means it will go through the usual Private Members' Bill process, which allows a limited amount of parliamentary time to debate such pieces of legislation. | This means it will go through the usual Private Members' Bill process, which allows a limited amount of parliamentary time to debate such pieces of legislation. |
| A government source said that the UK's defence spend would include some of a £1bn cross-departmental "conflict pool", in a move approved by Nato. | A government source said that the UK's defence spend would include some of a £1bn cross-departmental "conflict pool", in a move approved by Nato. |
| 'Raiding accounts' | 'Raiding accounts' |
| The Ministry of Defence provides about £450m of the costs of the conflict pool, which is managed with the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development. | The Ministry of Defence provides about £450m of the costs of the conflict pool, which is managed with the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development. |
| Sir Gerald, who had responsibility for the pool when he was in government, said it was not fair to include contributions to the pool in defence expenditure. | Sir Gerald, who had responsibility for the pool when he was in government, said it was not fair to include contributions to the pool in defence expenditure. |
| "It looks like what the government is doing is raiding a whole series of accounts and saying 'we didn't include those in the defence budget in the past but in order to make up the 2% and satisfy people like me, we are going to raid those accounts'," he told the BBC. | "It looks like what the government is doing is raiding a whole series of accounts and saying 'we didn't include those in the defence budget in the past but in order to make up the 2% and satisfy people like me, we are going to raid those accounts'," he told the BBC. |