Nigel Farage: I would force David Cameron to spend ‘substantially more’ on defence
Nigel Farage campaigns in Clacton this week
Ukip are fighting this election on the back of a series of promises on defence spending.
Nigel Farage is making hay with the Conservatives failure to guarantee a two per cent spend of national income on defence and appealing to his core vote with popular, generous policies for the armed forces.
As well as a pledge to spend more than two per cent of GDP every year the Ukip leader has also promised that his party would deliver a dedicated military hospital and a series of financial incentives to help ex-servicemen and women get jobs in the civilian world.
His pledges this morning come against a backdrop of frustration from the Conservative right and senior army figures over David Cameron’s failure to guarantee the spend.
The Conservatives themselves have also attempted to paint Labour as weak on defence, questing Ed Miliband’s personal commitment to Trident.
This leaves space for Mr Farage and his party to say that it would be up to them, in a coalition, to ensure the armed forces are fully funded and protected.
Speaking in the Telegraph the Ukip leader said he would force David Cameron to spend ‘substantially more’ that 2 per cent of GDP on defence as part of any power sharing deal.
The Conservatives are likely to be unwilling to match such an expensive pledge even if they are required to turn to Mr Farage in an effort to form a government come May.
The paper also reports that the Ukip leader is planning to open “back channels” with the Conservatives to discuss a post-election pact a week before election day on May 7, a claim Labour have seized upon this morning as proof of a Conservative-Ukip pact.