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But this is also a stark reminder that we are in a new era of threat
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Our world is changing. It is less predictable. It is more dangerous
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And in the last year alone, we've seen the Israel-Iran war bring the Middle East close to the very brink
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Armed conflict break out between India and Pakistan. Chinese spies targeting our democracy at home
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Putin escalates still further, his war in Ukraine. And in just this last year, we've also seen Europe's skies plagued by drone disruptions
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We've seen Russian incursions into NATO airspace double. And we've seen 90,000 cyber attacks on the UK defence system alone
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This is a new era of threat. It demands a new era for defence
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an era of hard power, strong allies and of sure diplomacy. And as the threat grows, Britain must step up and we are
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Earlier this year, the Prime Minister said security and defence, and I quote, is now the central organising principle of government
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the pillar on which everything else stands or falls And I have to tell you I proud to be part of a government that knows our first duty is to protect the nation and keep our citizens safe
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A government that has made a historic commitment to increasing defence investment because our national security does not come for free
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So today I will set out how the choices being made by this government before, during and beyond the budget are essential to match these rising threats
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How the fantasy savings promised by opposition parties and their record of undermining defence would leave Britain underprotected
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underprotected, and also how this investment comes with a fundamentally new Labour approach
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a defence dividend that is already boosting British industry, British jobs, British communities
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Back in opposition, the then Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted his government had hollowed
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out and underfunded the British Armed Forces. It was a brutal but honest assessment
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Defence budgets were cut by £2 billion in the first Conservative year
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By billion that over 20 in their first five years in government So after 14 years they left British Army numbers at the lowest since Napoleon
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forces families in cold, damp, leaky homes, soldiers on the front line with kit unsuited to deal with the threats they face
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and even the renewal of our nuclear deterrent delayed by years. Deliberate austerity decisions
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And Ben Wallace stood out in that period. He did what he believed was right for defence in difficult circumstances
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and I praise him for his honesty. But his admission, hollered out, underfunded
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was an admission that every single one of those Conservative ministers should have made
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Our public services, our communities, our industrial base, were all hollered out, all underfunded, over those 14 Conservative years
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And today, ahead of the budget, the opposition are proposing more of the same
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£47 billion in fantasy savings, which they never delivered in government, which means
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£47 billion of Conservative cuts. They don learn but the public do and the public know the damage the Conservatives did Deep cuts to our defence budgets deep cutbacks in our NHS driven by failed economic policies with low growth
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cuts to investment and the mini-budget. This is the Conservative political paybook
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They did it before. They would do it again. And with this Labour government, we are not going back
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Because we were elected last year on a promise of change. to halt Britain's decline, to set the foundations for renewal
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and to build Britain's future based on greater security and growth. That's why we've chosen the Labour priorities
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to fix our health service, to strengthen our defence. We're delivering the change that Conservative ministers did not
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and that no Conservative government will. Labour change powered by Labour values with a vision
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of future British success. It's in our first year in government. We brought in the largest pay rise our forces have seen
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for more than 20 years. The biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War
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The end of the worst ever Tory privatisation, bringing back into public ownership 36,000 military family homes
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And the deepest reforms to defence in 50 years
