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Hague: UK defence budget £38 bn over-committed

Hague: UK defence budget £38 bn over-committed

William Hague, the foreign secretary, responds to a question on the SDSR after a speech to the Council for Foreign Relations (CFR):

“As an incoming government, we have inherited a very, very difficult financial position. Our country has borrowed as much money in four years as in the previous 1,000 years. That’s not a sustainable situation.

“And we’ve inherited a defence budget which is 38 billion pounds — might not seem a lot, compared to the Pentagon’s budget — but 38 billion pounds over-committed over the next 10 years. We’re over- committed by that much compared to even a budget continuing at the current level.

“So we need to make some urgent decisions. There are ships and aircraft about to be built or bought and — for which the money does not exist, and never existed actually. So somebody has to sort it out quite quickly.

“So for all of those reasons, we’re doing it at the same pace as our comprehensive spending review for the whole of the government. And therefore, our spending priorities and our defense needs will be in alignment — a novel idea in government, but it’s what we are determined to bring about.

“And of course, it’s a difficult process, the strategic defense review, given the financial climate. But whatever we do in it, Britain will retain a global role. It will be a key ally of the United States.”