Rishi Sunak is facing growing disquiet among ministers and Tory backbenchers over the failure to boost defence spending in last week’s Budget.
At least a dozen ministers and MPs are understood to have privately expressed support for Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Tom Tugendhat who have demanded spending be hiked to 2.5 per cent of GDP ‘and beyond’.
The Foreign Office minister and security minister respectively made the call over the weekend in an online article in an apparent swipe at the lack of new money for defence.
Some backbench MPs were so angry that they nicknamed the PM ‘Neville Sunak’ in reference to former prime minister Neville Chamberlain, who failed to stand up to Hitler in the run-up to the Second World War.
One MP reportedly told colleagues they would today hand in a letter to the 1922 Committee calling for Mr Sunak to be toppled over the issue.
One minister said: ‘Across the board there’s a sense that we’re talking on the one hand about a more dangerous world but we’re not demonstrating what that means in spending terms.
‘Those of us in the know feel the threats are so many and various that it would be very hard to meet them all.’
A second minister said: ‘The Budget was underwhelming. We needed a better offer on defence. This is about values and we’re supposed to be the party of defence.’
Tory MP Danny Kruger, co-chairman of the New Conservatives group of MPs, said: ‘The Government is increasing defence spending, which is welcome.
‘But as Tom and Anne-Marie have said, we must work faster to restore our war fighting capabilities.
‘We need to make up for the false promises of the ‘peace dividend’ years and urgently reinvest in the Armed Forces.’
A senior backbencher said: ‘We have ministers publicly breaking ranks over defence cuts, a Chancellor who barely knows the difference between a tank and a helicopter, and party members who want to prioritise defence spending, even over tax cuts.’
Shortly before the Budget, a poll by Conservative Home, the website for grassroots members, found three-quarters back spending more on defence over cutting taxes. Another backbencher added: ‘People are not happy.
‘We’re 27 points behind in the polls and then this. Some people are talking about ‘Neville Sunak’ because he’s weak on this, he doesn’t understand it. And [Chancellor Jeremy] Hunt understands it even less.’
Other MPs, however, told the Mail they did not believe defence spending would become a major election issue as voters are more concerned about the NHS, immigration and the cost of living.
Last night Liam Fox, who served under David Cameron, became the sixth former defence secretary to back more cash for the Armed Forces.
‘What we’re spending is not enough because of the level of threat out there now and the fact it’s a growing threat,’ he said. ‘I agree that at least 2.5 per cent is where we should be.’
In a highly unusual move for serving ministers, Ms Trevelyan and Mr Tugendhat issued their article without it being signed off by Downing Street.
They wrote it was ‘clear’ that ‘the UK needs to lead the way in increasing our domestic defence and security spending to 2.5 per cent and beyond’.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt and Home Secretary James Cleverly are all thought to support the idea of greater defence spending.
In his Budget, Mr Hunt said it would rise from about 2 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent ‘as soon as economic conditions allow’ but critics want a clear timetable.
A government spokesman said: ‘Our Armed Forces are among the very best in the world and we are spending a record amount on defence. This includes an extra £24billion between 2020-2025, the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War.’
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David Churchill
