U.K. Government Under Pressure To Boost Defense Spending

NBC: Calls to boost military spending add to U.K.'s growing sense of unease

A former defense chief says the U.K. faces a hard choice: increase the defense budget or accept a diminished status as a military power.

LONDON — Over the past century American and British troops have fought side-by-side in two World Wars, Korea and the conflicts in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

But some lawmakers and experts in the United Kingdom are warning that the British military could soon be seen as irrelevant by the United States unless it receives a colossal funding boost.

"There is a concern that the U.K. is falling ever further behind and becoming even more useless from a U.S. point of view," said Andrew Dorman, an associate fellow at Chatham House, a think tank in London.

Britain has traditionally seen itself as one of the world's leading military powers, and its annual defense spending of 35.3 billion pounds (around $46.6 billion) is still the largest in Europe.

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WNU editor: A warning from U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis .... America says France will become its number one ally if Britain does not boost military spending (The SUN).