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Ben Wallace under fire over ‘disingenuous’ Armed Forces funding comments

Ben Wallace Johnny Mercer Armed Forces British Army funding investment controversy - Anthony Upton for The Telegraph
Ben Wallace Johnny Mercer Armed Forces British Army funding investment controversy - Anthony Upton for The Telegraph

Ben Wallace’s argument that the Armed Forces have been “hollowed out” is disingenuous, a fellow government minister has claimed.

Johnny Mercer, the veterans’ affairs minister, made the comments after the Defence Secretary told the Commons on Monday he was “happy to say that we have hollowed out and underfunded” the military.

Mr Wallace made his comments in response to points made by John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, who said it was since the Tories took power that “the serious hollowing out has happened”.

The Labour MP stated that when his party left government in 2010, the British Army stood at more than 100,000 full-time troops and 2.5 per cent of GDP was spent on defence.

Mr Wallace has pushed hard for increased spending in the past year in order avoid a real-term cut in the defence budget.

However, he still has to convince the Treasury of the need for extra money ahead of the Spring budget.

One defence source called on the Defence Secretary to “not throw s--- at the Treasury the whole time”.

On Monday night, in comments first reported by the Guido Fawkes website, Mr Mercer told a Coalition for Global Prosperity event that Mr Wallace’s comments on the military having been underinvested for decades were “patently not true”.

He said: “Eighteen months ago, this very same minister was applauding chancellor Rishi Sunak for giving them the biggest settlement since the end of the Cold War.

“It’s therefore not credible 18 months later to say that defence has hollowed out and we can’t really do anything anymore.”

In 2020, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) secured an extra £16.5 billion investment over the next four years, the biggest programme of defence investment since the end of the Cold War.

Boris Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, said he took the decision “because the defence of the realm must come first”.

Speaking when the announcement was made, he said: “The international situation is more perilous and more intensely competitive than at any time since the Cold War and Britain must be true to our history and stand alongside our allies.

“To achieve this, we need to upgrade our capabilities across the board.”

Britain’s military ‘better than ever before’

Mr Mercer added that Mr Wallace’s comments regarding investment in the military were “fundamentally not true”, adding: “If you look at our lethality and our global reach and what we can actually achieve now with our amazing equipment, it’s better than it ever has been before.

“It’s got nothing to do with numbers and all the rest of it. What we can achieve now in terms of the effect of Britain on the world stage is light years away from where it used to be.

“To say that we are hollowed out, in my view, is a little bit disingenuous.”

His comments came after James Heappey, the defence minister, suggested the MoD would see a budget boost in the wake of concerns troops have been overstretched by the UK’s support for Ukraine.

Mr Heappey’s comments were made in response to claims that a senior US general privately told Mr Wallace that the British Army was no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force.