Labour is calling for “a post 9/11” style increase in defence spending in response to the Ukraine crisis following forecasts that the budget could fall by up to 3% a year this parliament despite the outbreak of a war in Europe.
The party declined to put a firm figure on the commitment sought, but, in the decade after 9/11, defence spending increased by more than £10bn a year in real terms, partly to pay for costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
