[Global Network Report Reporter Zhang Qian] According to the BBC, the Guardian and other media reports on May 31, British Defense Secretary John Healy said that the British government will spend 1.5 billion pounds to build at least six new ammunition and explosives factories to "more effective in deterring opponents."
John Healy Data Picture Source: Visual China
The BBC said that this statement is part of the upcoming defense strategy review report by the British government on June 2. The UK Ministry of Defense said the plants will support the production of up to 7,000 British-made long-range weapons and create about 1,800 new jobs. The UK government said the new plants will be used to produce critical munitions and explosives, and planned to have "ready available" and rapidly expanding ammunition production capacity.
According to the new investment, UK ammunition spending will reach £6 billion during this parliament, according to the British Ministry of Defense. Healy also said that the UK's defense spending will increase to 3% of GDP by 2034 at the latest.
But the BBC mentioned that the British opposition Conservative Party expressed difficulty in believing that Labor is ready to achieve "ready available" ammunition production capacity, because procurement "has basically stopped in the past year."
"We welcome investments in new ammunition plants, but we don't know when they will be ready, only knowing that these orders should have been placed a few months ago," said James Catledge, a spokesman for the Conservative Defense Affairs.
The BBC mentioned that senior British military officers have long warned about Britain's exhausted weapons stockpile.
When British Chancellor Reeves announced the spring budget on March 26 this year, he said that the core content includes reducing government spending, reducing welfare budgets, and increasing defense spending. But measures to increase military spending have sparked controversy in the UK. Critics point out that increasing defense spending while cutting social welfare may exacerbate social dissatisfaction, especially when the Labor government came to power, it promised to improve the living standards of ordinary people.
