Ben Wallace urges Rishi Sunak to invest in defence ‘as the world becomes more unstable’
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Ben Wallace insisted that “now is the time to invest” in the Armed Forces as he stepped down from Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet on Thursday.
The outgoing defence secretary said Downing Street must “not return to the days” when spending on the military was “viewed as discretionary”.
In his resignation letter, he told the Prime Minister “I know you agree with me” on the need to boost funding as the world becomes “more unstable”.
Mr Wallace stepped down on Thursday morning after four years in the role, having already announced his intention to quit as an MP at the next election.
During the Boris Johnson era, the former defence secretary and Mr Sunak, then the Chancellor, regularly clashed over the UK’s military budget.
But in a carefully choreographed exchange of letters, the pair talked up how they are now on the same page over the need for increased spending.
Mr Wallace praised the Prime Minister for “the investment you made in defence as chancellor and the continued support you have shown”.
He said the extra cash “has been key to enabling the Ministry of Defence to deliver for Britain,” adding: “I am personally very grateful for your leadership.”
“The Ministry of Defence is back on the path to being once again world-class with world-class people,” he wrote to Mr Sunak.
“The United Kingdom is respected around the world for our Armed Forces and that respect has only grown more since the war in Ukraine.
“I know you agree with me that we must not return to the days where defence was viewed as a discretionary spend by government and savings were achieved by hollowing out.”
He added: “I genuinely believe that over the next decade, the world will get more insecure and more unstable. We both share the belief that now is the time to invest.”
The Prime Minister said Mr Wallace had been “a vigorous advocate for the defence of the realm” and highlighted the planned increase in military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
“I am glad that over the years we have worked together to put the defence budget on a stable footing and ensure that the military will have the resources it needs in the years to come.
“As the integrated review refresh makes clear we will move away from the baseline commitment of spending at least 2pc of GDP on defence to a new aspiration to reach 2.5pc.”
The pair have previously clashed over plans for extra spending on the Armed Forces.
In July last year Mr Wallace, who was backing Liz Truss for the Tory leadership, revealed that Mr Sunak had tried to block a “vital” increase.
He said the Treasury had opposed a multi-year £16bn increase announced by Downing Street in 2020 and had instead pushed for a one-off rise.
The then defence secretary said Mr Johnson had to “assert his authority” over his chancellor to “make sure that’s what happened”.
“I’m keen that whoever is the next PM invests in defence. But the Treasury resisted the PM’s ambition for it to be 2.5 per cent,” he added.
Mr Sunak announced in March that an extra £5bn was being added to the military budget over the next two years and set out plans to reach the 2.5 per cent figure “in the longer term”.
