An ex-army chief has said Pete Hegseth was right to mock the Royal Navy, while also backing fresh warnings that Britain’s armed forces are too underfunded for the security challenges the country now faces.
Richard Barrons supported George Robertson’s criticism of defence spending and said the UK military is “too small and undernourished for the world that we now live in”. His remarks added to the pressure on ministers over the pace of military investment.
The intervention comes against a backdrop of renewed concern about defence policy in Europe, with war continuing on the continent for the first time in decades after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Barrons said the situation should have served as a wake-up call, and suggested the government had not moved quickly enough in response to those circumstances.
Earlier in the live politics coverage, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey was asked why he was calling for an inquiry into Nigel Farage’s investment in a bitcoin firm. Davey said Farage, the Reform UK leader, appeared to be following Donald Trump by entering crypto and promoting it publicly.
Davey argued that MPs should be prevented from promoting financial services or products. He said Farage was now promoting the business and questioned whether he was persuading people to put money into a risky venture.
From that example, Davey said, the rules for MPs should change so they are not allowed to promote specific financial services or products in the way he said Farage was doing.
His comments reflected a broader concern about the relationship between politics and financial promotion, while also underlining the tense atmosphere around defence, national security and public trust in political figures.
On defence, Barrons’ comments reinforced a growing argument that Britain needs to do more, and do it faster, to strengthen its military capability. He said the country must “get together as a country” in the face of serious defence challenges.
The exchange comes as questions continue over whether the government has matched the scale of the threat with enough urgency and investment. Barrons suggested it had not.
As the politics live blog continued, the debate ranged from military readiness to the standards expected of elected MPs. The two issues were distinct, but both pointed to wider scrutiny of leadership, responsibility and preparation in a volatile period for UK politics and international security.
