The Defence Secretary has vowed that the government will grow the military to at least 76,000 soldiers and has pledged to reverse “decades” of hollowing out the armed forces.
John Healey claims Labour is the first government “in a generation” who will not cut numbers down further into the armed forces.
Healey told GB News, “This review is the first for a generation that doesn’t look to hollow out our armed forces further. Instead, it looks to build out the forces, grow the forces and grow jobs.”
The Defence Secretary said the government is committed to increase defence spending and within two years they will reach 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
He told the media outlet, “That’s a level we’ve not spent in this country for 15 years, and it’s part of a record uplift in defence spending, the largest since the end of the Cold War.”
The government has also vowed to improve military accommodation for the families of serving personnel.
Healey told GB News, “I’ve been able to announce as well, because of the new investment we’re putting into defence, we’ll put £1.5billion in this parliament to dealing with the scandal of military family homes that are unfit to live in.”
“I’ve announced today that in this parliament we’ll put a billion pounds into putting the first laser weapons onto our ships, the first European nation in NATOthat will have laser weapons able to shoot down at the speed of light, at the cost of a tenner a shot,” he added.
