Author Topic: Nato defence spending target met, government insists  (Read 346 times)

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Offline EC

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Nato defence spending target met, government insists
« on: February 14, 2017, 08:54:45 pm »
The government has rejected a think tank's claim that it missed Nato's target of spending at least 2% of national income on defence.

In a new report, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) claimed spending had fallen to 1.98% in 2016 as a result of the British economy growing faster than the defence budget.

But a Ministry of Defence spokesman said its figures were "wrong".

It pointed out that Nato itself said the UK met the 2% target.

A spokeswoman for the alliance confirmed five countries - the UK, US, Poland, Greece and Estonia, met its target, which was set in 2006, last year.

    Reality Check: Is the UK spending 2% of GDP on defence?

The UK has called on other countries to increase their spending, and US President Donald Trump has complained of European members failing to pay their fair share for collective defence arrangements.

In its report, the IISS said only Greece and Estonia spent 2% or more, with the UK falling short by about £380m.

Its researchers said there was "no shared understanding" of what constitutes a nation's defence expenditure, pointing out that Nato's definition includes not only defence ministry budgets but also pensions, expenditure for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and research and development costs.

They added that "very different results" could be reached depending on how expenditure is converted into US dollars and that different GDP figures could also distort the figures.

They also questioned the "increasingly prominent" role of the 2% figure, saying it "only provides a limited representation of countries' defence capabilities and commitments".

"Ultimately, it is the output that matters," they added.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38969697

Could equally well go into military.
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