Extra £2 billion to be spent on SAS and special units in next five years, David Cameron pledges

Pledge: Prime Minister David Cameron made the announcement at the Lord Mayor of London's banquet
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Laura Proto16 November 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to spend an extra £2 billion on the SAS and other special units over the next five years.

The announcement, made at the Lord Mayor of London’s Banquet, comes in the wake of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris which killed at least 129 people.

Mr Cameron said the additional money will be delivered from the growth in defence budgets guaranteed by the Government’s commitment to spend two per cent of GDP on the military.

It is thought the money would be used to fund new weapon and vehicles, protective equipment, night-fighting kit and communications.

The new National Security Strategy due to be unveiled next week will give Britain the resources it needs to “increase both its hard and soft power” and boost its influence in the world, the Prime Minister said.

He added: “Whatever others might wish were the case, the reality is there are times when you do need to deploy military force.

“And if you don’t have it, you can’t deploy it.”

Mr Cameron also announced he will increase the proportion of the overseas aid budget devoted to stabilising and supporting broken and fragile states from a target of 30 per cent to 50 per cent.

Making reference to terrorist threats, the Prime Minister said Britain needs to show the same resolve as was displayed against Hitler during World War II in order to prevail.

The speech was delivered immediately after Mr Cameron flew home from a G20 summit in Turkey where leaders of the world’s major economies agreed to co-operate in the fight against terrorism following the Paris tragedy.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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