00:00We recognise the need to spend more on defence.
00:02That's why at the Budget, the Chancellor put in an extra £3bn
00:05alongside the extra £3bn going to Ukraine.
00:08We are determined to get to 2.5%.
00:10It's a manifesto commitment that we made.
00:13We will deliver on that.
00:14We'll set out a pathway towards it,
00:16but I think there is a recognition that defence spending needs to increase,
00:19not just here in Britain, but also our European allies too.
00:22We will be hitting 2.5% and we'll set out the pathway towards it,
00:26so that will involve extra investment in defence
00:28alongside the additional investment the Chancellor already announced at the Budget.
00:33But the Defence Secretary has also been clear
00:35that any extra investment has to go hand-in-hand with reform as well,
00:38because we have far too many examples of wasteful and inefficient spend
00:42and we need to get better value for the taxpayer.
00:442.5% is very ambitious, involves significant extra spend,
00:47is not a figure that has been reached since Labour was last in government.
00:51It's the Conservatives who failed to deliver on that 2.5%.
00:55They've also left the public finances in a really parlous state,
00:58so we have some tough choices about how we make this happen,
01:01but we absolutely will get to 2.5%.
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