The shadow armed forces minister says Labour has committed to raising defence spending by 2.5 percent of GDP "as resources allow". Luke Pollard adds that the move is to reflect "the threats the UK and our allies are facing", and that the UK's nuclear deterrent is the "bedrock" of Sir Keir Starmer's plan to help keep the nation safe. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 So today, Labour's announcing our ambition to get to 2.5% of GDP spent on defence as resources allow.
00:08 That's to reflect the growing international concerns and threats that the UK and our
00:12 allies are facing, as well as supporting our renewal of the independent nuclear deterrence.
00:17 Big challenges facing our country and we're setting out a clear defence policy
00:22 that will meet those challenges today. When Labour left power in 2010, we were spending 2.5%
00:28 of GDP on defence. Since then, the Tories have cut and hollowed out our armed forces. We've lost
00:34 200 planes in the RAF, one in five Royal Navy warships and our army's the smallest it's been
00:40 since the Napoleonic War. This is a concerning situation when our adversaries are massing and
00:46 attacking our allies. That's why we're committing today to an ambition to increase defence spending,
00:51 but also to renew our independent nuclear deterrence. We need to win votes from every
00:56 part of British society, but the first duty of any government is to keep the nation safe.
01:02 That is something that Keir has absolutely determined that we would go into the next
01:06 general election trusted on defence. That's why we've been setting out our agenda for what a
01:12 reformed armed forces looks like, with more resources and with the capability gaps properly
01:17 addressed. But the bedrock of our national security is that independent nuclear deterrence.
01:22 And that's why Keir is in Barrow today, visiting those submarines and meeting the workers that
01:29 build our nuclear deterrence. It's a pretty feeble growth level. And what we've seen is low and
01:34 stagnant and negative growth over the last 14 years. If we're to get Britain back on its feet,
01:40 if we're to give it the fresh start that our public services need, we're going to need to have
01:44 a greater level of economic growth, and importantly, greater economic stability as well.
01:50 There has been no stability with the Conservatives, especially since they crashed the economy under
01:54 Liz's trust. That's why, as a party, Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have set out our policies
02:00 to create more jobs, to motor the economy, to create growth in every single part of the United
02:05 Kingdom. And from that growth comes the additional tax revenues that enables us to invest in the
02:10 public services that so desperately need it. The vast majority of people leaving our armed forces
02:15 transition successfully from a life in uniform to a life in the civilian world. But for those
02:20 who don't and need that little bit of extra help, this announcement today is a welcome step. But
02:24 when the government halve support for veterans in recent years, it's going to take more than
02:29 an announcement like this to give those veterans the support they need. And that's why, as a party,
02:34 we're committing to making sure that we're giving veterans the support they need, not only in
02:38 employment, in mental health, but in housing as well. There's some really big, thorny challenges
02:42 that the government are trying to paper over with announcements. But we need to get to the root of
02:49 the problem, not just have one year funding boosts that sound good in a media release, but don't
02:54 fundamentally alter the destiny of those individuals involved. The difficulty with all social media,
02:59 from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp, is it's not necessarily the platform, it's the content
03:05 and the moderation on that platform that creates the difficulties. I want to see our young people
03:10 able to be themselves, to be able to express themselves freely and do so in a safe environment,
03:15 lowering the age where people can interact with that without the necessary stepping up of the
03:21 support, moderation and help from those social media giants is not necessarily going to deliver
03:26 that safer space for our young people to grow and explore on social media that's required.
03:31 We do need to make sure that social media companies are taking their responsibilities
03:35 more seriously, because there's far too much content online that young people should not have
03:40 access to. And there's far too much cyber bullying still that affects so many, especially of our
03:44 vulnerable young people. So I want to see there being proper protections for those young people,
03:50 if those age changes are being introduced. If I'm honest, this isn't an issue that I nor the vast
03:56 majority of the public spend too much time worrying about. When we've got high NHS waiting lists,
04:01 when we've got threats to our national security, wondering about what Angela Rayner did with her
04:06 ex-husband 10 years ago is tit for tat, so that I think can be better replaced with debate on more
04:12 pressing issues facing Britain.