BREAKING: Foreign Secretary @YvetteCooperMP has strongly signalled that the UK will increase defence spending even further, saying “any lingering cosy assumptions about our defence and security are gone. So too is the post-Cold War peace dividend”. She said the UK must "face up to the need to do much more so we properly protect our citizens". Speaking after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Ms Cooper said: “We discussed in the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting how Russia’s weakening on the battlefield against Ukraine is also making them more reckless and dangerous. “In the face of that threat and the ongoing global instability, the NATO Alliance is vital and enduring, but within it Europe and the UK must do more. We have already been stepping up with significantly increased defence investment. But we have to face up to the need to do much more so we properly protect our citizens. “Russia is now under huge pressure from Ukraine’s military response and from economic challenges, but that is making them more unpredictable with escalating attacks on Ukrainian civilians, increasing hybrid threats across the continent, and reports of drone incursions. The threat from Russia is increasing on air, land, sea, space, cyber and information warfare. “Any lingering cosy assumptions about our defence and security are gone. So too is the post-Cold War peace dividend. “That’s why we need to keep increasing our defence and security capabilities and maintain our support for Ukraine. NATO is the most successful defensive alliance in history and now we need to keep building a stronger Europe within NATO. The safety, stability and prosperity of our citizens depends upon it.”
