72,000 civil service job cuts will pay for £75bn in defence, says Grant Shapps

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it was “reasonable” to cut 72,000 civil service jobs to fund Rishi Sunak’s pledge to boost defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2030.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast today (24 April), Mr Shapps said: “That actually will take the civil service back to where it was before Covid, so I think that is a very reasonable approach.

“We think it is important we fund the front line. It comes before everything else and if we don’t defend the nation, then everything else becomes slightly less of an issue.”