Labour’s £2.9bn defence boost doesn’t go nearly far enough

Anyone who is serious about the condition of the armed forces and Britain’s defence policy will not look a gift horse in the mouth. Rachel Reeves’s announcement in yesterday’s Budget that the government will spend an additional £2.9 billion on defence next year is welcome and desperately needed. But while it’s headline-grabbing, in reality it will make little difference to our national security and strategic posture.

It is hard to think of a time, certainly since the end of the Cold War, when the international situation was so tense and challenging in so many areas. Russia’s brutal war of conquest in Ukraine is grinding towards its third winter, and although the United Kingdom has consistently been among the most unstinting donors of military and financial assistance, the West has pulled its punches. Ukrainian forces are still not allowed to use long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles against all targets in Russia.