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There is no immediate military threat to Britain. We should spend less on defence | Simon Jenkins

Politics The Guardian By Simon Jenkins 01 Jul 2026 17:05 1 min read
There is no immediate military threat to Britain. We should spend less on defence | Simon Jenkins

Parliament, media and thinktanks are united in their view that more military spending is still not enough. But sacrificing domestic projects to pay for it is indefensible Britain should spend less on defence. It is a waste of money and should be reduced so more could be spent on supporting employment, welfare and growth. Why is there no such debate? Why should “defence” be awarded an almost religious invulnerability? At present, parliament, broadcasters, print and social media, thinktanks and pu

Parliament, media and thinktanks are united in their view that more military spending is still not enough. But sacrificing domestic projects to pay for it is indefensible

Britain should spend less on defence. It is a waste of money and should be reduced so more could be spent on supporting employment, welfare and growth.

Why is there no such debate? Why should “defence” be awarded an almost religious invulnerability? At present, parliament, broadcasters, print and social media, thinktanks and pundits all admit to only two points of view. One is that Britain should spend more on defence, the other is that it should spend far more.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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