'That's Not True': Minister Clashes With Kay Burley Over Defence Spending Pledge

Kay Burley clashed with a Labour minister over the new government’s timetable for boosting defence spending.

Keir Starmer has insisted he wants to spend 2.5% of the UK’s GDP on the military, but won’t say when it will be achieved.

The prime minister, who is attending his first Nato summit since winning the election, has announced that a strategic defence spending review will take place first.

However, senior military figures have criticised the PM for not giving a clear timetable for when the spending target will be reached.

On Sky News this morning, Burley grilled armed forces minister Luke Pollard on the government’s plans.

Kicking off the interview, she asked him: “When will the government increase defence spending to 2.5%?”

Pollard replied: “We’ve committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5% and the first step in that is a strategic defence review that will look at the capabilities that we need to deter the aggression that the UK and our allies are facing.”

Asked when the review would be concluded, the minister said: “The review will report to the prime minister and the defence secretary within the next year.”

Burley replied: “A year? That’s not at pace, minister. We can’t wait a year, according to the top brass.”

As the presenter shook her head, Pollard insisted the review would be concluded “as fast as we can”.

Trying to shift the blame onto the last Tory government, added: “We’ve inherited a situation where our armed forces have been hollowed out and under-funded over a long period of time.”

But Burley told him: “That’s why they need the money now.”

The minister said the government needed to make sure the extra money was “spent in the right way and on the right kit and equipment”.

He added: “That’s what the spending review will be setting out, because we know there are capability gaps that we have.”

Burley then said: “Just to be clear. You guys did not do any homework before you came to power last Friday. You’ve not looked at what needed to be spent where before you walked in the door.”

Pollard responded: “That’s not true, Kay. You’ll know that in opposition you don’t get access to the classified briefings, the intelligence that would be required to set out what shape and size our armed forces should be.”

Pointing out that senior military figures have warned that there could be a world war within five years, Burley said: “You are telling my viewers this morning that it’s going to take a year to figure out where to spend the money.”

The minister admitted “we are facing difficult times” and added: “That’s why we need to deliver this review at pace. We’ve set out our commitment to get to 2.5%. I think your viewers would appreciate you can’t suddenly fill capability gaps overnight.”