THE UK Government has been urged to scrap its nuclear weapons arsenal “once and for all” amid concerns the country’s defence capability is in a “woeful state”.
It comes after a former head of the army urged Keir Starmer to commit to defence spending or “be consigned” to “the bin of history”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, ex-chief of the general staff Lord Dannatt said defence spending should rise to a 3.5% share of the economy.
The UK currently spends around 2.3% of gross domestic product on defence, a figure the UK Government wants to increase to 2.5%.
Dannatt said: “Unless Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves can find ways of producing more money, well beyond 2.5%, towards 3% or 3.5% for starters on our defence budget, then this strategic defence review is going to be hollow, it’s going to be a failure and, frankly, it’ll consign Keir Starmer to the bin of history.
“Our military is so run down at the present moment, numerically and as far as capability and equipment is concerned, it would potentially be quite embarrassing.”
The SNP have backed calls for defence spending to be increased to at least 2.5%.
However, the party called for the UK Government to scrap its nuclear weapons defence enterprise “once and for all”.
The UK's nuclear weapons arsenal is stored in Scotland at HM Naval Base Clyde, west of Glasgow. Submarines are based at Faslane, while nuclear warheads are stored, processed and maintained at the nearby Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport.
The party’s Westminster defence spokesperson, Dave Doogan, said Britain’s defence capability was in a “woeful state”.
“While our armed forces wrestle with two decades of cuts, the UK Labour Government is determined to waste more than £100 billion on nuclear weapons over the next decade.
"With the UK's nuclear weapon vanity obsession hanging like a millstone around our conventional forces' budget, the Labour Government should for once do the right thing and scrap the defence nuclear enterprise once and for all.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Our armed forces are respected worldwide for their professionalism and excellence.
“Right now, the Ukrainians are still fighting with huge courage. Our government is stepping up support for Ukraine's war fighters to put them in the best possible position for any talks.
“That’s why we announced a new £150 million firepower package this week, providing more drones, tanks and air defence systems to Ukraine.”
