Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to encourage NATO allies to meet the pledge to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

At the 2014 NATO Wales Summit, all Allies signed the Defence Investment Pledge (DIP) to spend 2% of GDP on defence and 20% of that on major equipment by 2024. The UK fully supports the DIP and has been clear on the need for increased defence spending in the Alliance to meet an evolving and complex security environment. The UK welcomed the Secretary General's recent announcement that non-US Allies will spend an extra $100 billion on defence over 2016-2020, and $350 billion by 2024. However, the UK remains clear that this upward trend must continue and regularly engages with Allies at all levels on this. For example, I spoke on the issue of burden sharing at the February NATO Defence Ministerial, where I welcomed progress already made and urged Allies to do more to meet their commitments.