UK's Starmer commits to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP - eviltoast
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday (9 July) said he would fulfil a campaign commitment to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, but underlined he would only do so when the country could afford it and after a review of defence strategy.
  • DragonConsort@pawb.socialEnglish
    312·
    5 months ago

    I can’t say I’m especially pro-military, but I think it’s worth noting that a simple budget increase like this is definitely going to be vastly more effective at strengthening our armed forces than what Rishi Sunak BASED HIS ENTIRE CAMPAIGN ON, which was mandatory service for young people.

    Budget for good weapons, equipment and vehicles is way more important to a modern army than just having a lot of warm bodies to throw at a target- just look at Russia’s atrocious waste of lives in Ukraine.

  • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    174·
    5 months ago

    Good. The UK’s military (just like seemingly everything else lol) saw a major hit under the Conservatives.

    The world is, unfortunately, becoming more hostile and Europe needs to be prepared for this.

              • 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                6·
                5 months ago

                Are you against military spending in general or against the oppurtunity costs of military spending for something specific?

                • meep_launcher@lemm.eeEnglish
                  91·
                  5 months ago

                  I think this guy is a revisionist Tankie. Russia and China have a history of expansionism and conduct provocative military exercises near NATO and Southeast Asian country borders.

                  Best to ignore them and they can sit in the mud of downvotes for others to read and realize they are full of beans.

          • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
            71·
            5 months ago

            You’re joking, right? Russia regularly threatens to nuke the UK, has done several misinformation campaigns in our political system, and even carried out an assassination using fucking chemical weapons on British soil. Sounds pretty hostile to me.

            China has spoken at length about intending to take back Taiwan, an ally, and the west can’t let that happen, it would be disastrous. They also had a violent crackdown on Hong Kong which the UK has a unique vested interest in for obvious reasons, state-sponsored Chinese hackers have on multiple occasions targeted UK institutions, including hospitals and the Ministry of Defence.

            And yes, various other countries. What, you think nowhere is hostile? There’s active battle against Houthis who are attacking merchant and military vessels right now, for example.

            If you think countries don’t need defensive capabilities, you are wrong. You’d think that would be plainly obvious right now, considering a country in Europe is being fucking invaded right now.

              • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
                31·
                5 months ago

                Lmao you’re acting like the press in Russia is free. It isn’t. Nuke threats on state TV, large government-backed papers, government staff, and Putin-allied ex-presidents are government sanctioned.

                What obligates the UK to defend its allies? Oh I dunno, promises made, morals, and the cold-hearted pragmatist view that losing Taiwan would be a complete disaster for the UK and the world in general. Semiconductors are kind of a big deal. There’s this new invention called the microprocessor - they’re pretty neat, and used practically everywhere!

                I don’t know why I’m bothering talking to a tankie. No matter what I say you’ll never shift from your position that Russia/China good, west bad.