International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Bill

Debate between Lord Purvis of Tweed and Lord West of Spithead

Friday 27th February 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord West of Spithead]

My Lords, can I clarify what the noble Lord said and that he accepts that the first duty of any Government is the defence and security of the nation?

[Lord Purvis of Tweed]

I do not think that there is any question that we owe our liberties and freedoms to defence spending, and that is why it is required. Not only that, I understand absolutely the Wales Declaration on the Transatlantic Bond that we signed up to, which states that we will aim to move towards the existing NATO guideline of spending 2% of GDP on defence within a decade. I know that we have a leading role in this and know the strength of the argument made by my noble friends and noble Lords to ensure that the UK continues in this leading role.