THE Conservatives would support the government in condemning president Putin after it was revealed that a Russian spy ship had attacked RAF aircraft with lasers, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake has said.

He told GB News: “Of course, you should be concerned. These are potentially putting our service personnel at risk, pilots of our aircraft. So of course, we should be concerned, and at times like this, we should definitely support the government in its strong language in terms of pushing back against Putin.

“We need to invest more in our defence capabilities. That’s why we said we should move to 3% of GDP spend by 2030. The government so far has failed to meet that commitment. Also, it’s ridiculous at this these points in time that we’re spending a fortune, 30 odd billion quid on basically the surrender deal with the Chagos [Islands].

“We should be spending that kind of money on our defence capability. And, of course, we should be modernising our defence estate, making sure it’s fit for purpose for the modern era. That’s all those things we want to do. Our shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge has been extremely strong on.

“Those kinds of commitments have not yet been matched by the government. We very much hope they’ll match them.”

KEVIN HOLLINRAKE MP GB News 20:11.jpeg

He added: “Ultimately, though, what we have to do to make sure we can afford to spend more on defence is we need a stronger economy. And that’s the opposite of what’s happening right now.

“The economy, the growth in the economy that Keir Starmer promised is just not happening. He’s going backwards and he’s destroyed business confidence. So that’s why we need a party running this country that understands how to get to that stronger economy, how we cut the cost of doing government.

“We cut taxes that would stimulate growth, stimulate business activity, restore business confidence, which is all time low. So we need a party who understands how to get the economy growing again, and then we can afford to spend more on our public services, and indeed afford to spend more on defence.”

On whether Andrew Mountbatten Windsor should give evidence in the US Congress, he said: “Well, any citizen of this country should help make sure that justice is done, whether that’s in the UK or a foreign jurisdiction.

“So for me, that would be something that we would definitely encourage any UK citizen to do, including Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”