Ben Wallace slams his own junior minister over military funding row

‘Luckily Johnny Mercer doesn’t run a department’: Open war in Cabinet as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace slams his own junior minister for questioning his claim the military has been ‘hollowed out’

Cabinet tensions erupted into the open today as Ben Wallace slapped down his own junior minister for questioning his claim the military had been ‘hollowed out’.

The Defence Secretary said ‘luckily’ Johnny Mercer did not have to run the department’s budget.

In an interview with LBC, Mr Wallace pointed out that he was in charge of 224,000 staff while the veterans’ minister had ’12 people in the office’. 

The brutal rebuke came after Mr Mercer insisted it was ‘not credible’ for Mr Wallace to say the UK’s armed forces had been ‘hollowed out’.

He said yesterday that he did not ‘buy into the narrative of running down defence’, praising the size of settlements in recent years.

Mr Mercer – a former commando captain – suggested his boss had been making overblown statements to as part of wrangling with the Treasury ahead of the Budget on March 15.

In an interview with LBC, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said ‘luckily’ Johnny Mercer did not have to run the department’s budget

The brutal rebuke came after Mr Mercer (pictured) insisted it was ‘not credible’ for Mr Wallace to say the UK’s armed forces had been ‘hollowed out’

Asked about Mr Mercer’s comments, Mr Walllace said: ‘Well, I think, you know, Johnny is a junior Minister. 

‘And Johnny luckily doesn’t have to run the budget. You know, I have a defence budget that has to deal, like all the other budgets, with inflation, with changes to threat, and I have to just deal with that. And that’s my job.’

Asked if Mr Mercer was ‘being naive’. Mr Wallace said: No, no, no. I just think, you know, his experience is not… he’s not the Secretary of State. 

‘He hasn’t run… I run a Department of 224,000 people I think it is. or something like that.’

When he was pressed on how many staff Mr Mercer was in charge of, Mr Wallace repled: ‘He’s got 12 people in the office.’

During a debate last month in the Commons, former Scots Guard Mr Wallace said he was ‘happy to say that we have been hollowed out and underfunded’.

Only days later, he told a joint UK-Australia press conference in Portsmouth that a ‘growing proportion’ of Government spending would need to go towards keeping the country safe, in a message that was read as being directed at Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ahead of the Budget.

It comes against a backdrop of UK efforts to support Ukraine in pushing back invading Russian troops and rising global tensions with China.

Reports have suggested Mr Mercer had taken umbrage with the Defence Secretary’s remarks in Parliament, apparently telling a Coalition for Global Prosperity event they were ‘patently not true’.

The Cabinet Office minister, asked about his reported past criticism of Mr Wallace’s stance, told LBC: ‘Ben is engaged in a lobbying effort for his department, as you would expect him to be.

‘The facts are that when I came into politics, defence spending was around £38 billion per year — it is just shy of £50 billion a year now.

‘It is obviously not credible to say that the money has been taken out of defence.’

When he was pressed on how many staff Mr Mercer was in charge of, Mr Wallace repled: ‘He’s got 12 people in the office.’

Pressed on Mr Wallace’s handling of the MoD funding debate, Mr Mercer added: ‘I think he is advocating for his department when a spend is coming up.

‘But when this Prime Minister was chancellor only 18 months ago, he gave the biggest settlement to defence since the end of the Cold War.

‘So it is then not credible to go forward and say that we haven’t put money into defence.

‘I think we have, I think our MoD and military is in terrific shape. There is lots to be positive about, so I’m afraid I don’t really buy into the narrative of running down defence.’

The comments come ahead of an update to the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, which is expected in the coming weeks.

Published in 2021, the integrated review announced a foreign policy ’tilt’ towards the Indo-Pacific in recognition of China’s growing influence in the region.

Source: Read Full Article