Defence is often an area of government that is not at the forefront of attention. With the current geopolitical climate and challenges, defence and defence spending is of critical importance to ensure our security.
I had the opportunity to meet with the Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps MP following Defence Orals in parliament this week.
UK defence spending is at its highest level in history, currently at 2.27% of GDP and aspiring to be at 2.5%. In contrast, Labour are not committed to increasing it above 2%.
We also discussed the critical importance of getting humanitarian aid into Gaza and using every route possible to deliver immediate life-saving aid into Gaza. A pier is being built to deliver up to 250,000 meals a day. The Secretary of State yesterday announced that the Royal Air Force has airdropped over 10 tonnes of food supplies to Gaza. But as yet nowhere near enough aid is getting into Gaza.
