{"id":762574,"date":"2026-09-07T05:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T05:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/762574\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T05:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T05:48:13","slug":"falklands-row-shows-urgent-need-to-commit-to-3-target-says-labour-defence-committee-chair-defence-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/762574\/","title":{"rendered":"Falklands row shows urgent need to commit to 3% target, says Labour defence committee chair | Defence policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Javier Milei\u2019s threats to the Falkland Islands<\/a> make it even more important that Andy Burnham increase defence spending immediately, according to the Labour chair of the defence committee.<\/p>\n

Tan Dhesi said the comments by the Argentinian president<\/a> this week show why the government should raise military spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. But he said Burnham\u2019s plans remain mired in confusion after the prime minister appeared to reassure him that the 2030 target would be hit, only for Downing Street to later retreat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important the prime minister and the chancellor don\u2019t defer those decisions to next year,\u201d Dhesi told the Guardian. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen Germany publicly expose Russia for the drone incident<\/a> [in Leipzig]. Now we\u2019ve got a threat from Argentina saying they are looking to take over the Falklands. We owe it to the Falklands \u2013 they say it\u2019s their right to self-determination. It\u2019s important that we also defend them from this threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dhesi was speaking after a turbulent week in geopolitics and defence policy. The Labour<\/a> MP appeared to have secured a promise by the prime minister on Wednesday that the UK would spend 3% of its economic output on defence by 2030, at an estimated additional cost of \u00a310bn a year.<\/p>\n

During Burnham\u2019s first prime minister\u2019s questions since taking office in July, Dhesi asked him whether he backed the 2030 commitment, warning \u201cvibes alone just isn\u2019t going to be enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was speaking soon after the chancellor, John Healey, declined to sign up to the 2030 target, even though he resigned from Keir Starmer\u2019s government over the issue. Burnham replied that he had \u201cmade that commitment\u201d, only for No 10 to say the prime minister was not making a firm commitment.<\/p>\n

The government instead has signed up to a longer-term Nato target of spending 3.5% on defence by 2035.<\/p>\n

Tan Dhesi asked Andy Burnham whether he backed the 2030 commitment to defence spending at Wednesday\u2019s PMQs. Photograph: House of Commons\/PA<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no clarity [on the government\u2019s defence policy], that\u2019s why I asked the question,\u201d Dhesi said. \u201cThere was a clarification post-PMQs that there isn\u2019t an agreement to reach 3% by 2030. I wasn\u2019t aware of [any] clarity [on this question], and that\u2019s what was reconfirmed afterwards. We\u2019re still in a similar situation. My question is valid and important for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the week, Donald Trump appeared to call American support for Britain\u2019s sovereignty over the Falklands into question. The US has traditionally remained neutral on the islands\u2019 ownership, while accepting Britain\u2019s de facto control, but the president suggested this could be changed in retaliation for the UK\u2019s lack of support for his war in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget, you get a big percentage of your oil from the strait of Hormuz, and you weren\u2019t there to help me,\u201d he told GB News. \u201cYour country was not there to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Javier Milei threatened oil sanctions against firms planning to exploit oil close to the islands. Photograph: Mariana Nedelcu\/Reuters<\/p>\n

His comments about the islands have emboldened Milei, who said on Thursday night \u201cwinds of change\u201d favourable to his country\u2019s claim to the islands were \u201cblowing around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe US is considering this change of position because it knows that Argentina<\/a> has a reliable partner, aligned with western values, in a strategically important position that can be a valuable ally in the decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said companies developing oil \u201cbehind the back of the Argentine government\u201d would be barred from doing business in Argentina.<\/p>\n

Ministers in the UK condemned Milei\u2019s comments<\/a> on Friday, saying the Falklands would remain British for as long as the people who live there wanted them to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Javier Milei\u2019s threats to the Falkland Islands make it even more important that Andy Burnham increase defence spending…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-762574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}