2.5% of GDP for defence

Everyone News and Current Affairs
21

I think it’s already been said, but don’t get any wish lists out for ‘additional spending’ with the 2.5%

I’ve heard it said that, with Defence inflation, simply repeating the same output as 2024 would require 2.63% of GDP spending in 2025 GBP, and that’s without taking into account the very valid point about the economy potentially shrinking.

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22

Armchair Or bats and moving imaginary troops around the battlefield is all well and good but we need to reinvest in our logistics tail. Successive cuts have preserved the Duke of Scrodlington’s light infantry but completely erased the enablers that they need to get into the fight. Basics like petrol food water tank transporters etc all gone. Remember J4 wins the war

4 Likes
23

Increase the number of training jumps for paras.

More jumps = more botched landings = increase in RLC troops.

So that’s logistics solved, what’s next?

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24

increase spots on SF Selection and you’ll end up with more bods in the AGC, thats the paperwork jockeys sorted to get the new recruits paid

25

The armed forces have been so underfunded for so long, that 2.5% really isn’t enough. It needs to be at least 3%.

As for foreign aid, there’s lot of weird things the foreign aid budget go that should really be looked at. I’m all for providing food, water, shelter and safety to the less fortunate, but some of it really goes beyond that.

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26

Can say the same for Policing and plenty of other things.

27

Personally, I think there are ways this could have been done without announcing a cut to overseas aid. For example, all of the ordnance gifted in kind to Ukraine could be cross billed from the MOD to the FCDO. The aid budget could then nominally be 0.7% but half of it used to pay for Defence.

E2A: Naturally, the same would go for RN costs supporting hurricane relief, etc.

28

This is already somewhat done - IIRC, most of the “overseas” aid budget is actually spent in the UK to support asylum and refuge infrastructures.

I believe that’s the only way we actually hit the internationally agreed 0.7% GNI target anyhow

29

I heard with the dollar vigilants are coming back

30

Nice to hear the generals backing my thoughts:

2 Likes
31

For me overseas aid fits into 3 categories:

  1. Countries we use to run who we “owe” support.
  2. Investment in current or future trade.
  3. money we are spending here today akd handing over finished products having already paid British workers and income tax.