THERE is an outside chance that Rishi Sunak saved your life.
Love him or loathe him, he has done a good thing — the Prime Minister has ramped up spending on defence.
Rishi Sunak has ramped up spending on defenceGetty
After months of vapid promises to increase spending “when economic conditions allow”, he finally set out plans to boost the UK’s defence budget to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.
It is not a new plan. Boris Johnson made the same promise at a Nato summit in Madrid two years ago.
The difference is that Sunak put a number on it yesterday.
He pledged an extra £75billion for defence over the next six years.
That is money for keeping you safe.
In the tinderbox world we live in, it likely means two things.
The best case scenario is it restores our “hollowed out” forces to the point that they can deter our enemies from provoking World War Three, and peace on this island endures.
In the worst case scenario — that war cannot be avoided — a revamped Army, Navy and Air Force will be better placed to win it quickly, alongside Britain’s allies.
Deterrence is the best defence, but it relies on credibility.
It was no good telling Vladimir Putin that we promise to spend more on defence when “economic conditions allow”.
The world is more dangerous now.
A tyrant is marching through Europe. The Middle East is ablaze.
And China remains determined to retake control of Taiwan.
For months the Government was locked in a paradox of its own making.
On the one hand, it said Britain could not afford not to invest in defence.
On the other hand, it said we could not afford to do it.
So what has changed? The short answer is nothing.
There is no windfall in the Treasury.
Spending figures out yesterday showed higher than expected borrowing, and combined with sticky interest rates, it means no wiggle room for tax cuts or spending hikes.
Hard choices
The fact is the Government has had to make hard choices. That is what we pay them to do.
More money for defence means less for something else, such as health or education or the services people rely on.
But without defence there is no health, there is no education.
Alarm bells over Britain’s defence have been ringing out for years
If you need any convincing, look no further than the bombed-out schools and remains of hospitals in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas.
Of course, there is every chance Mr Sunak will not be in power by next year, let alone 2030.
So he may have to trust his defence plan to Labour.
Sir Keir Starmer had already pledged to match the Government’s previous promise of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP when conditions allow.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey refused to be drawn on a timeline yesterday — but it would be mad for Labour to torpedo this plan after trying so hard for so long to look tough on defence.
Alarm bells
Alarm bells over Britain’s defence have been ringing out for years.
The Supreme Allied Commander Europe — the top US general in Nato — said last year that he no longer thought of Britain as a top-tier military force.
While he was still in office, former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted that 30 years of under-investment had left our forces “hollowed out”.
And The Sun revealed that Britain’s ammunition stockpiles would run out in one afternoon of war with Russia.
During the past decade, the Army has shrunk to its smallest size in 300 years.
The Royal Navy — which mustered more than 1,000 ships for the D-Day landings 80 years ago — has a mere 17 frigates and destroyers today.
Ultimately, this investment is about having a credible deterrent, conventional as well as nuclear
Ministers revealed this week that Conservative spending on defence plunged from 2.47 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 2.28 per cent last year — after a low of 2.03 per cent in 2015.
Mr Sunak’s announcement will get Britain back to where it was when David Cameron won power in 2010.
Stepping up
The extra cash includes £10billion over the next decade to beef up ammunition stockpiles and fund the factories Britain would need to ramp up production in a shooting war.
It includes an extra £500million for Ukraine this year, which will buy Storm Shadow cruise missiles and Paveway laser-guided bombs, drones and anti-aircraft missiles.
I understand it also includes a commitment to give £3billion a year to Ukraine until Putin’s invaders are defeated.
At home, it will help to fund the renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, including the Trident missiles and the new Dreadnought class nuclear submarines.
It will contribute to the 22 warships on order or in build to bolster the Royal Navy.
Officials said it will fund major investments in the Army.
Sadly — because it is defence — money will be wasted and projects will overrun.
Fat cats will get fatter. But that is no reason not to do it. It is a reason to do it better.
This is Britain stepping up to its historic role within Nato.
We are showing Russia our resolve, inflicting costs on Putin and teaching Iran and China lessons about how the West can respond when the global order we treasure is threatened.
Ultimately, this investment is about having a credible deterrent, conventional as well as nuclear.
It is about avoiding future conflicts so that you, or your fighting-aged children, are spared the need to fight and die in a bloodbath Third World War.