AIBU to point out that the most important duty of the UK government is to maintain the defence of the country?

[KateSixer]

The shameful, cowardly and extremely short sighted decision of Starmer and Reeves not to properly fund the defence budget has led to the resignation of the Secretary of State for Defence.

Honestly it's traitorous.

I really wouldn't be digging a bigger hole for yourself. Does it not tell you anything about Healey's resignation?

The UK holds the fifth position globally in the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) rankings for defence expenditure. It sits just behind Germany, while retaining its status as the second-largest spender in NATO after the United States.

Yanbu but Starmer and Labour are imploding.

YANBU OP - if there is only room for a single item in the budget, it should be defence. Especially now in a) globally uncertain times and b) with the increase in terror attacks, riots etc at home.

I find it a bit strange tbh that it's only single-digit %ages of the budget!

Don't worry Air Chief Marshall, a few MNers have got it covered. No need to panic🙄

Posts solely blaming the Conservatives aren’t considering how things have changed drastically in terms of our safety. Yes the Conservatives should have prioritised our safety but currently Labour is in charge.

The resignation letter from the defence minister names Keir directly, for the dire situation we are in. It’s completely unacceptable.

The electorate feels differently though. Noone running on tax increases to fund defense would win.

It's really not a Labour thing. Defense spending has been getting cut for years.

For the UK, there are three broad options for financing a sustained increase in defence spending:

Increasing borrowing, potentially involving some relaxation of the fiscal rules. (It is worth noting that capital spending is already excluded from the government’s binding stability rule, so the investment component of higher defence spending would sit outside that constraint.)

Increase taxes, whether through explicit rate rises or base broadening.

Lower spending elsewhere, via reprioritisation within existing budgets, which analysts warn could put immense pressure on public services like health and education.

Which of these do you, in your infinite wisdom, (rather than just your normal stabce of negativity) think we should do?

We are already at war, who do you think is behind our cyber attacks, the riotst? We are sleep walking into a very dangerous situation. We need to start to invest in new tech like drones. Ukraine could teach us a thing or two, we are woefully behind and the US are not coming to protect us.

I'd start with the £9 billion for carbon capture

Why are you presenting me with those options in some sort of smart arsed manner - what do you expect me to do about it? Negative stance? You mean the realistic stance that Starmer has repeatedly been reminded about by his former defence secretary and the highest airforce rank who's had no choice but to write to the PM. Labour back benchers are refusing to back down on welfare reform. Who exactly is in charge here?

Despite my question being directed at the PP, this is a fair point and the money spent (0.3% of GDP) on CC would be better off spent on reducing emissions - or possibly the defence budget (but then you would also have to admit you think global warming is nonsense).

I wish we could see some evidence of having an Army during these current awful conditions on our own streets. Police officers must be resigning in droves.

Starmer referes to our armed forces as armed services. No wonder our police service has been weakened. I doubt he even knows the difference anymore.

See, all you ever have is retorts that you seem to think are clever, with no thought about possible solutions.
"we need to do this"
how?
"No fkin idea"

As to who is on charge, thank god it's not you, although you do actually sound a little like one of the opposition - negativity with no resolution that would work.

Healy has resigned because he hasn't been offered all that he wants. MoD have been underfunded for years and this is a cue for the financial horse trading that will accompany another review (of the review) and that the government will have to finance.

And if your posts yesterday were anything to go by, your big suggestion will to cut the benefits budget - which is really where you're coming from isn't it.

Well Labour are imploding rn and the pp has nothing to do with that.

You're really saying Labour are the positive party pmsfl. Politics of envy and always prioritising welfare over defence. Taxing hard working families, causing misery and hardship on the wrong targets. Thanks for the hoot.

Not sure why you're dragging posts from another thread over but I bet I can guess exactly what it is you're dying to say. Not happening in this occasion. This thread is about the defence. That's twice you've got personal now.

But this thread isn't about the tories?? Its about the current government there's only so long labour can keep hiding behind that excuse for.

More of the same from you then.
Did I actually say Labour are the positive party? No.
I really don't know why I might have expected anything else, given your contribution on any given topic you choose to (negatively) engage in.
You do seem to have let your guard slip by hinting we should reduce welfare.
As for taxes, that's one of the areas that could need increasing to fund a higher defence budget. But you don't want that so...

Yep you said it! The benefits need to be slashed its unbelievably bloody obvious!!

Which of these do you, in your infinite wisdom, (rather than just your normal stabce of negativity) think we should do?

Welfare. It's always welfare, same shit, same poster, different thread.

Oh don’t confuse the issue with facts.

Starmer needs to admit that he's too weak to stand up to Ed Miliband. Ed fucking Miliband. That one.

FWIW, I wouldn't bother spending much money to reduce UK emissions. Our percentage of the Global total is miniscule. So there's probably another £40bn or so from Great British Energy (? Nor me). Good find!