Shapps Says UK Facing ‘Pre-War World’ and Can’t Risk Cutting Defence Spending

The defence secretary has given a major speech at Lancaster House in London in which he portrayed a bleak world that justified high military spending.

Britain's Defence Secretary Grant Shapps delivers a speech on defending the UK and its allies, at Lancaster House, in London, on Jan. 15, 2024. Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has said Britain is in a “pre-war world” and cannot afford to reduce spending on the military.

In a major speech at Lancaster House in London, Mr. Shapps said the “peace dividend” that followed the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s was over.