It seems more and more countries are investing in their military, nowadays. I wonder why! U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged on Monday to increase military funding by 5 billion pounds, (roughly $6 billion) in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 2023 Integrated Review Refresh (IR23) confirmed that the additional funds will be provided to the Ministry of Defense over the next two years, hoping to strengthen ammunition stocks and modernize the U.K.’s nuclear enterprise. The decrease in ammunition stock came from supplying Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
The extra $5 billion follows a four-year cash uplift in 2020 of $24 billion – the biggest increase since the Cold War.
Sunak met with President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday to confirm next steps in this military pact known as AUKUS.
“By investing in our armed forces for the long-term, we will be ready for the challenges of today and of the future,” Sunak stated. “As I will discuss with our American and Australian allies in the US today, the UK will remain a leading contributor to NATO and a reliable international partner, standing up for our values from Ukraine to the South China Seas.”
The U.K. is also increasingly concerned about what the government calls “the epoch-defining challenge presented by the Chinese Communist Party’s increasingly concerning military, financial and diplomatic activity.”
The defense review said that “wherever the Chinese Communist Party’s actions and stated intent threaten the U.K.’s interests, we will take swift and robust action to protect them.”
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