Increasing spending on defence by decreasing spend on development aid is short sighted. Aid contributes to security, aid continues to the British interest (which is how Starmer framed the defence increase). This a very worrying trend - ThreadSky

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filawless.bsky.social • 3 days ago

Increasing spending on defence by decreasing spend on development aid is short sighted. Aid contributes to security, aid continues to the British interest (which is how Starmer framed the defence increase). This a very worrying trend

Reposted from RTÉ News

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told the House of Commons that the UK's defence spending will increase to 2.5% by 2027

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3leggeddonkey.bsky.social•2 days ago

Defence of the Realm is a government’s number one priority as we are so busted following Covid there is likely no other option.

filawless.bsky.social•2 days ago

There absolutely is another option. ODA is just the easiest as it's not billionaires being hit with taxes, it's the poorest and most vulnerable around the world being hit.
And as for covid, diseases don't respect border, ODA helps track, treat and prevent the spread of diseases

3leggeddonkey.bsky.social•2 days ago

Redirecting expenditure means the funds are guaranteed. Taxing billionaires doesn’t guarantee receipt esp as most of their money is tied up in businesses. Mr Starmer’s policy is not idea but pragmatic

filawless.bsky.social•2 days ago

I disagree. It's not pragmatic. The cuts to the ODA budget have already been shown to be insufficient for the planned increase in defence spending. And thinking that cutting aid will not increase conflicts and fragility around the world is short sighted.

3leggeddonkey.bsky.social•2 days ago

We have to deal with the threat as it exists now; Neo-Nazi putin. This is a panic measure in light of Trump’s recent re-positioning.

filawless.bsky.social•2 days ago

There is an opportunity to deal with the threat now with other measures that don't negatively impact global security in the future.

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