No date for defence hike

No dat GRANT Shapps could not say when a Conservative pledge to raise defence spending would be reached, despite having warned of rising global threats.

The Defence Secretary said spending on defence was currently below the target of 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy.

“We’re comfortably above 2%,” he told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips. “But we are pledged to, when conditions allow, get to 2.5%.”

Challenged over when that goal would be hit, he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “There is a trajectory upwards.

“I can’t give you the exact date because we’ve always said it’s as the economic conditions allow. But the point is we’re working to a plan.”