‘Considerable wealth’ pouring into UK – new stats lay bare where EU is behind – Express

Ursula von der Leyen's vision of the EU as a significant military power has been dismissed by a prominent Brexiter - who pointed out member states are still heavily reliant on British hardware to keep them safe, six years after the UK quit the bloc.

Professor Daniel Hodson suggested Britain continues to do all the heavy lifting - most recently by spearheading the continent-wide resistance to Vladimir Putins Russia following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Prof Hodson is a former director of the Vote Leave campaign, a former chief executive of Londons futures exchange, and the deputy chairman of the Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK).

He said: Many in the UK would like to see our defence budget increased. However, in comparison with EU countries, the UK has done all the heavy lifting. We continue to do this from the icy Arctic to the sunny Mediterranean.

The EU has slowly woken up to the threats on its borders, after Putins illegal invasion of Ukraine. The independent UK has led the way, with training, funding, and the supply of serious military hardware.

He added: If the EU has any serious ambitions to become a military power one day, it still has a very long way to go.

Yet again, the conclusion is simple: for defence, as for so much else, Europe needs Britain far more than Britain needs the EU.

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'Considerable wealth' pouring into UK - new stats lay bare where EU is behind - Express