Category Archives: Politics

Britain, Defence, Government, Politics, United States

Defence: MPs say a spending boost of 50% is needed

MILITARY EXPENDITURE

DEFENCE spending must increase by 50 per cent to protect the special relationship with the U.S., according to a report by MPs.

Military expenditure, currently around 2 per cent of national income, must also rise for the UK to maintain its influence in NATO, they said.

The MPs reiterated calls for spending to go up to 3 per cent of GDP – which would be equivalent to an extra £2billion a year.

Without this, UK forces would struggle to maintain their ability to work alongside the US military, diminishing their usefulness as allies, the Commons defence select committee said.

The report added some in the US believe Britain’s defence capabilities have “slipped” and that concerns have been raised about the UK’s ability to operate independently.

The report reveals US defence secretary James Mattis had been referring to Britain when he said recently one of America’s allies had cut capacity “to the point where it could no longer speak with strength”.

Conservative MP Julian Lewis, the committee chairman, warned anything less than an investment of 3 per cent of GDP “endangers us and our allies”.

It comes as Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is locked in a battle with Theresa May over defence spending.

Dozens of Tory MPs could vote to block the Budget unless the Prime Minister increases military spending. It follows reports that Mr Williamson had told military chiefs he could bring down Mrs May if she refuses to back him in his fight to get an extra £2billion a year from the Treasury.

The report, published ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Brussels, also warned the UK military risks becoming “irrelevant” because of the time it would take to deploy forces. Currently, it would take 20 days to deploy a mechanised brigade and 90 for a division.

It suggested Britain should take the lead in defending the North Atlantic, bolstering its anti-submarine warfare capability to defend against a ten-fold increase in Russian submarine activity in the area.

The report said: “If the UK wishes to maintain its leadership position within NATO and continue such fruitful defence relations with the US, then it will have to invest more in its armed forces. Diminished capacity reduces the UK’s usefulness to the US and our influence within NATO. The Government must not allow this to happen.”

Mr Lewis said: “An increased commitment, in the face of new and intensified threats, means further investment is essential. Where percentage of GDP for defence is concerned, our mantra must be: ‘We need 3 to keep us free’.

“Anything less is simply rhetoric which endangers us and our allies.”

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Aid, Britain, Government, Politics, Society

Foreign aid spending hits public trust

FOREIGN AID

MINISTERS are undermining trust in foreign aid by failing to ensure it is spent on the world’s poorest, a committee of MP’s have warned.

Projects funded through the £14billion budget include schemes to boost China’s film industry and to improve its museums.

Britain is legally committed to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on foreign aid, but the Commons international development committee called for that money to be focused on poverty reduction.

MPs specifically singled out the £600million Prosperity Fund, a cross-Whitehall pot that is still used to pay for foreign aid schemes in countries like India and China.

They raised questions about how it was funding projects in China to reduce tobacco consumption by migrant workers and to lower the salt intake of children.

The MPs said many of the dubious ventures were being run by Boris Johnson’s Foreign Office (FCO).

“Among the FCO-administered Prosperity Fund projects, we found many weaker examples including projects to develop the Chinese film industry, improve the Chinese museum infrastructure and improve the credit bond rating system in China,” they said.

The committee said it was unclear “how these types of interventions will benefit the very poorest people”. It called for a review of existing programmes.

“We are concerned to have uncovered Prosperity Fund projects within middle-income countries which show inadequate, or negligible, targeting at improving the lives of the very poorest and most vulnerable communities in these countries,” the report said.

Whitehall departments were also condemned for not being open about how they are doling out the £14billion budget.

Although most of the foreign aid budget is used by the Department for International Development (Dfid), other Government departments are increasingly having to help to get the money out the door.

More than a quarter (27.5 per cent) of the £14billion aid budget was spent by departments other than Dfid last year.

The report said while Dfid was “respected worldwide as an accountable deliverer of aid”, there was a lack of transparency elsewhere in Whitehall.

The committee warned that other Government departments were being given aid money to spend without having to explain how they would make sure it was used properly.

The MPs said: “Given the level of spending involved, we are concerned that departments are not publishing fuller details of their… spending as this lack of clarity clouds the public’s ability to see good and bad spending.”

They highlighted the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which redacts information and refuses to publish how it uses much of its money. The MPs added: “This lack of clarity undermines trust in the fund.”

A spokesperson for the Government said: “We have been clear, we must ensure that the aid budget is not just spent well but could not be spent better and standards are raised across Government to achieve value for taxpayers’ money.”

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Britain, Economic, European Union, Government, Politics, United States

Britain dismayed at US trade war

US TRADE TARIFFS

THE Prime Minister Theresa May has attacked Donald Trump’s “unjustified” trade tariffs amid fears that Britain’s automotive industry could be hit next.

Mrs May said she was “deeply disappointed” with the US President’s decision to impose higher import taxes on steel and aluminium from Britain and the EU.

The EU has signalled that it is prepared to hit back, making a complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and finalising a list of American products it will target with tariffs of its own.

There are fears, however, that this could spark a spiralling trade war, with Mr Trump responding to any retaliation by imposing additional import levies on cars from the UK and EU.

That possibility will concern the more than 169,000 employees in the UK motor vehicle industry, on top of existing fears for Britain’s 31,000 steel workers.

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox suggested that the UK may not fully support the EU’s retaliatory measures, instead saying Britain only backs the complaint to the WTO.

He said it would “take some time” for EU member states to agree their collective response, and urged the bloc to pursue compromise with the White House in the interim – even though British diplomats have previously offered their support to measures drawn up in Brussels.

Dr Fox said it would be “very, very unfortunate if we get into this tit-for-tat position, especially with one of our closest allies.”

He added: “Nobody wins in a trade war, there are only casualties. We very much regret that these tariffs were put in place.

“We think it’s of dubious legality and we will be with the EU 100 per cent in taking this to a dispute at the WTO.”

The deepening row comes just before a G7 meeting of world leaders in Quebec this week, where European leaders will air their grievances to the US President. French president Emmanuel Macron has already told Mr Trump his new tariffs on EU goods was a “mistake” and “illegal”.

Mrs May’s language was more measured, but she said: “I am deeply disappointed at the unjustified decision by the United States to apply tariffs to EU steel and aluminium imports.

“The US, EU and UK are close allies and have always promoted values of open and fair trade across the world. Our steel and aluminium industries are highly important to the UK, but they also contribute to US industry, including defence projects which bolster US national security.

“The EU and UK should be permanently exempted from tariffs and we will continue to work together to protect and safeguard our workers and industries.”

Although it is said that the Prime Minister has additional concerns over US trade tariffs, it is believed she has not expressed these in public as she hopes to tie up a comprehensive post-Brexit trade deal with the White House and does not want to inflame the situation.

The EU, which handles trade matters on behalf of the UK, has been finalising its response to the US, with measures affecting thousands of US imports to the EU worth £2.5billion, including Levi’s jeans and Jack Daniel’s bourbon, hit with tariffs of up to 25 per cent.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU’s trade chief, admitted the bloc was “anxious” that Mr Trump would follow through on earlier threats to impose tariffs on European cars.

She said: “This would create enormous damage, not only to the European economy but also to the US.” The US levies of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium imports follow promises made by Mr Trump under his America First programme.

Earlier this year, he said: “If the EU wants to increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on US companies doing business there, we will apply a tax on their cars, which freely pour into the US.”

EU cars sold in the US face a levy of 2.5 per cent, compared to a 10 per cent tax on US vehicles brought into Europe.

How the US raised the stakes:

. Donald Trump announced in March that the EU and countries including Mexico, Canada and Brazil would be hit by increased steel and aluminium tariffs to protect US firms against imports from China, which has flooded the market with cut-price steel.

. The EU, which negotiates trade on behalf of Britain, was granted a temporary exemption while Theresa May and other leaders lobbied for a permanent reprieve.

. The UK is concerned about the effect of the measures on its resurgent £1.6billion steel industry, which employs some 31,000.

. Britain exported 350,000 tonnes of steel worth £376million to the US last year – 7 per cent of its output.

. If the EU hits back, as it has threatened to do, Britain fears that Mr Trump will retaliate by raising tariffs on cars, in a blow to the UK car industry, which employs around 169,000.

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