But former US president and current candidate Donald Trump suggested he would not protect countries that failed to meet that goal if attacked, sparking a fierce debate in Europe over defense spending.
Shapps argued it would make a “real difference” if other NATO members met the new target proposed by the UK.
“I will support it, and I know the Prime Minister is very keen on it, when we go to the NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington, DC,” the British Defense Secretary said.
Shapps’ comments come a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced an extra £75 billion in defense spending for his own country over the next six years and said he wanted the defense industry British is on a “war footing”. It’s a move the UK says will increase its defense budget to the equivalent of 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade.
Speaking on Wednesday while his boss Sunak was visiting Germany, Shapps said he saw no need to further increase defense spending, as some Conservative backbenchers already do.
“If someone gave me 3 per cent tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to spend that amount of money, at least not nationally,” Shapps told Times Radio. “So I would have to just go around the world and buy kits from other people.”
The government promised the increased spending would be partly funded by cutting 72,000 civil service jobs, a move Shapps called “very reasonable”.
Politico
