The Chancellor of the Exchequer has said the Government will provide £2.2 billion of funding for the Ministry of Defence over the next two years.

Sajid Javid said the figure represented a real-terms increase of 2.6%.

According to the Government in a release:

“£2.2 billion in additional funding made available for the UK’s world-class Armed Forces will ensure they can continue to modernise and meet the ever-changing threats to national security.

This ensures the government will continue to exceed its commitment to grow the defence budget by 0.5% in real terms, with the UK continuing to exceed the NATO target.”

Takeaways:

-it’s a ‘real’ boost (not just in line with inflation)

-£1.2bn on capabilities

-£700m on pensions Crucially -£300m to fund “priority capability programmes”. That sounds like money to cover the black hole and absorb the £/$ fluctuations. [H/t @pinstripedline] pic.twitter.com/psxovqDiMK — Henry Jones (@hthjones) September 4, 2019

In his announcement to the House of Commons, Javid said:

“We are one of only seven countries to meet the 2% commitment to NATO. Today we will go further still, with an additional £2.2 billion of funding for the MOD.

And a real terms increase of 2.6% for their budget next year.

Increasing again the share of our national income we spend on defence and national security. This year is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. We pay tribute to the sacrifices of the extraordinary generation of British soldiers who fought and died during that campaign.

And today I can announce £7 million of funding for the Normandy Memorial Trust to complete their memorial overlooking Gold Beach where so many troops came ashore.

And we will also support the veterans of today’s wars as well, as we confirm the funding today for the new Office of Veterans’ Affairs.”