Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage has welcomed the Chancellor's commitment to meeting the NATO pledge to spend 2% of our national income on defence every year of this decade.
During yesterday's Budget, the Chancellor, George Osborne revealed that the Government would be committing additional resources to defence and security and meeting the NATO pledge.
Towards the end of the last Parliament, Caroline called for this pledge to be met during a debate in the House of Commons, arguing that not doing so would weaken the Armed Forces and damage Britain's standing amongst its allies. Yesterday she applauded George Osborne's decision to commit to this pledge which will protect Britain's Armed Forces and national security.
Speaking after the Budget, Caroline said:
"Today we received very welcome news from the Chancellor about the future of the UK's defence budget and I know that people from across the Gosport constituency will join me in applauding his announcement.
Not only will this decision help to strengthen our Armed Forces and security as a nation, it will also benefit the broader defence industry. Here in Gosport we know only too well how fluctuations in the defence budget can impact upon local economies and the productivity of businesses so I am pleased that the Chancellor has committed to protecting the defence budget until 2020."
Historically, Gosport has very strong links to the Armed Forces with a large proportion of the population working in the Royal Navy and a number of major defence companies choosing to base here. Since first becoming elected in 2010, Caroline has always endeavoured to protect the defence industry; she fought hard to stop the Royal Naval School of Engineering at Sultan from moving to south Wales and helped to secure funding for local defence companies.
