At first glance, the military seems to be the one area that a beleaguered Brexit Britain is still holding up.
The U.K. spent 2.3% of gross domestic product on defense in 2021 and has the second-highest defense budget in NATO after the U.S., which is in its own league. Not long ago, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was singing the praises of the country¡¯s military modernizing capabilities after a 14% increase in defense budget over four years, the largest such check written since the end of the Cold War.
But recently, a senior U.S. general reportedly told Wallace that the British Army is no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force. There was Wallace in the House of Commons, echoing the criticism; ¡°we have hollowed out and underfunded¡± the military, he told MPs.
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