Technology Minister Chris Philp said the UK is going to do “everything that Ukraine needs us to do to support them” despite warning the war in Ukraine is “having an economic impact” on the British economy. He explained the UK has already spent “£1.3 billion in support of Ukraine”, but stressed “there is no price too high in defence of freedom”. The claims came as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is expected to call for the defence budget to be lifted to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2028.
Mr Philp told Times Radio: “We’ve already spent £1.3 billion in support of Ukraine in humanitarian aid and in military support.
“Obviously, the war in Ukraine is having an economic impact.
“That is a price worth paying.
“There is no price too high in defence of freedom.
“We’ve seen lessons from history that if you try to appease aggressors particularly one like Vladimir Putin, it doesn’t tend to end well for anyone.
“Essentially they never stop.
“You can never draw a line and say, we’re going to stop.
“We though a line had been drawn back in 2014 after his invasion of Crimea and his effective invasion of those areas in Donbas they’ve occupied.
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“This is up to Ukraine, it’s Ukraine sovereignty, Ukraine’s territory that has been invaded.
“We should do everything that the Ukrainian government needs us to do to support them, even if that involves a cost to ourselves which it does obviously.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace urged the Prime Minister to increase the spending on the UK’S armed forces in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Wallace, for instance, is expected to call for the defence budget to be lifted to 2.5 percent by 2028.
The UK is currently spending around 2 percent of its GDP on defence.
In the wake Mr Wallace’s call for an increased investment on defence, speaking at LBC this morning Mr Philp said: “The Prime Minister and Chancellor have to balance all of the spending requests across the whole of government and have regard to the wider economy as well.
“They will obviously do that in a measured and balanced way.”
He also added: “It is up to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make the decision. He is the person that has access to all the information across all government departments. He has access to all the date on where tax revenues are heading and everything else”.
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