Crispin Blunt MP welcomed the Chancellor’s Budget Statement today and is encouraged to see a guaranteed real increase in the defence budget every year as well as a new joint security fund of £1.5 billion a year by 2020. He warned, however, that the details of the commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence will need to be examined carefully.
Crispin Blunt said:
“The creation of a joint security fund is a significant step forward for proper coordination of all national security budgets held between the FCO, MoD, DFID and the intelligence services.
“The Foreign Office, not just military and intelligence agencies, should be able to access funding from the joint security fund, so that policymaking capacity can be strengthened to allow the necessary analysis and oversight of resources deployed for national security.
“The pledge to meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP on defence is not quite as profound as it appears. The Government is apparently changing the way they measure defence spending to meet this important target by including expenditure outside the Ministry of Defence budget, including £2.5 billion on the secret intelligence agencies.
“I look forward with the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and other Committees to examining the detail in the coming weeks and months so that we can maximise our national security resources and the more effective integration of the budgets and policy of the FCO, MoD, DFID and intelligence services which all make a crucial contribution to our national security.”
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FCO - Foreign and Commonwealth Office
MoD - Ministry of Defence
DFID - Department for International Development
Total spending for the Security and Intelligence Services was £2.48 billion in 2013/14. Single Intelligence Account (SIA)