I will quit, says armed forces minister James Heappey if Liz Truss ditches pledge to raise defence spending

Defence minister James Heappey who said he will resign if the PM reneges on her pledge to increase military spending (PA Archive)

Armed forces minister James Heappey said on Tuesday he would resign if Liz Truss ditches her commitment to raise defence spending to three per cent of Britain’s national income.

He issued the blunt warning after new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt refused to commit to this level of spending on the military by 2030.

Asked if he would resign if the Prime Minister breaches this commitment, which she had made during her campaign to be Tory leader, Mr Heappey told LBC Radio: “Yes.”

Pressed again, he added: “Yeah, but no-one has said that three per cent is not going to happen by 2030.”

Asked again if he would resign if this was not delivered, he responded: “Yeah, we need to be spending three per cent of GDP on the defence of our nation by 2030 because there is no prosperity without security.

“I don’t think that is an argument that needs to be made or won around Government, I think everybody understands that.

“We are living in a world that is more unstable, more insecure and if we want our nation to prosper we have to invest in the tools to keep our nation safe.”

However, he also made clear that defence ministers were willing to talk with the Treasury about how this three per cent target is reached, signalling a willingness to try to help out with the immediate economic and fiscal pressures.