BORIS Johnson’s chief of staff stepped in to kill a defence spending hike in the first weeks of the Ukraine war, Trending In The News can reveal.
MP and No10 chief Steve Barclay squashed attempts by the Defence Secretary to discuss increasing Armed Forces spending with the Chancellor ahead of March’s mini-Budget.
As we revealed on Monday, Ben Wallace wrote to Rishi Sunak on March 11 warning Britain risked missing sacred NATO spending commitments because of inflation in a desperate plea for more cash.
But the doomsday letter sent just days after Russia invaded Ukraine was ignored.
Now a Whitehall blame game has broken out over who gave the order to bin the warning.
Defence officials pointed the finger at the Treasury for pushing them to withdraw the demand for more cash – but Treasury officials say it was PM’s powerful right-hand-man put his foot down.
One said: “It was No10 that ordered the row to cease and put the kibosh on any more money, not the Treasury.”
But a senior Whitehall source insisted: “Steve was concerned about the process rather than the content of the letter and is working with both departments on this matter.”
Last night Labour demanded answers to why the MoD warning was ignored as Sir Keir Starmer said the the issue of hiking defence spending “needed to be returned to by parliament”.
Former Defence Minister Kevan Jones wrote to Sunak: “During the present international crisis in Ukraine, it is all the more important that the Chancellor does not simply see their role as a national bean counter, but rather one that responds to events.”
He added ignoring the letter risked “risks undermining our nation’s defence.”
“The MOD is a department systematically venerable to inflationary pressures.
“It is the duty of the Defence Secretary to outline this vulnerability to HM Treasury and press for adjustments should it be required.”
