UK defence ministry left to foot £200mn bill for Ukraine mission

{"text":[[{"start":10.68,"text":"The Treasury has been accused of reneging on a deal to pay for a proposed British peacekeeping contingent in Ukraine from central funds."}],[{"start":19.82,"text":"The dispute, centring on whether the Treasury or the Ministry of Defence should finance the UK’s contribution to the mission, has formed part of wider wrangling over military spending. "}],[{"start":32.91,"text":"The Ministry of Defence faces a £28bn funding gap over the next four years, while the Treasury is adamant that it will not loosen its fiscal rules. "}],[{"start":44.089999999999996,"text":"The MoD had argued the so-called coalition of the willing, proposed for Ukraine, was precisely the kind of unforeseen expenditure that should come from a Treasury pot reserved for exceptional circumstances, said people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":61.28,"text":"The coalition arose last year out of efforts by European allies to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, if it agreed a ceasefire with Russia as US President Donald Trump pushed to broker a peace deal. The UK and France are leading the development of a “future reassurance force”, with a permanent headquarters in Paris."}],[{"start":83.51,"text":"In January, UK defence secretary John Healey announced £200mn in initial funding to prepare the armed forces to deploy as part of the multinational force for Ukraine. "}],[{"start":97.46000000000001,"text":"The money was designed to help “upgrade vehicles, communications systems, new counter-drone protection and additional force-protection equipment”, the MoD said."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":109.14000000000001,"text":"Two government figures said the Treasury had initially signalled it would fund this work from the contingency reserve. However, it had since walked back the agreement, sparking frustration in the MoD."}],[{"start":122.18,"text":"The defence ministry has now accepted that the funding will come from its own budget, according to officials, who insisted on Wednesday that it was no longer a live argument."}],[{"start":133.62,"text":"One government figure said the total bill for the coalition of the willing in the early phase was expected to reach £600mn to £800mn, meaning further rounds of wrangling may lie ahead."}],[{"start":148.17000000000002,"text":"A political dispute over the funding of Britain’s defence erupted this week, when Lord George Robertson, a former Nato secretary-general, used an interview with the FT and a speech in Salisbury to warn that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had shown “corrosive complacency” over the UK’s military. He also accused “non-military experts” at the Treasury of “vandalism”."}],[{"start":176.3,"text":"Robertson’s interest in defence harks back several decades. A former Labour defence secretary, he is a senior counsellor at The Cohen Group, a Washington-based consultancy that advises clients in the aerospace and defence industry. "}],[{"start":192.55,"text":"He was also the lead author of the government’s strategic defence review. An investment plan, setting out how the review’s proposals would be funded, has deadlocked between the Treasury, the MoD and Downing Street since last year."}],[{"start":209.03,"text":"Starmer on Wednesday told parliament he would publish the investment plan “as soon as possible”. He cited his decision last year to increase defence spending from 2.3 per cent to 2.6 per cent of GDP, paid for by cutting the foreign aid budget. "}],[{"start":229.38,"text":"On Ukraine, a government spokesperson said UK military chiefs were “continuing their work on the multinational force for Ukraine planning, making sure we know how, where and who will deploy. We have already invested £200mn earlier this year to equip the UK military with the kit they need when that time comes”."}],[{"start":261.56,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776335717_1945.mp3"}