Rachel Reeves has warned that Britons could be hit with higher taxes to pay for defence spending.
The Chancellor suggested that further tax rises could come in the autumn budget because "borrowing can’t be the only answer".
Ms Reeves told an investor conference: "The money has to come from somewhere. Everyone can see the challenges. We are spending 2.6 per cent of GDP [on defence] from next April and the pressures are only going in one direction."
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to approve a £13.5billion increase for the armed forces, in an attempt to reach a 2.5 per cent GDP target, in an announcement expected as soon as Friday.
But Defence Secretary John Healey has warned the figure risks undermining Britain’s credibility in Nato.
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the former Nato secretary-general who was the lead author of the Government’s defence review, told the Commons Scottish affairs committee: “The country has to be defended. The threat to our liberty, our freedom, our way of life is no longer theoretical.
“We see vividly every day in reality what is happening in the streets of Ukraine. We are under-prepared, we are under-insured, we are under attack and our country is not safe.
"If we’re going to be safe and we want to have the war-fighting readiness that alone will stop anyone from attacking us, then we need to move and we need to move fast."
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Rwanda scheme branded a 'colossal waste of money' by Anna Turley
Labour MP Anna Turley has branded the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme a "colossal waste of money" in a scathing takedown on GB News.
Labour completely scrapped the asylum scheme immediately upon taking office in July 2024, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer declaring the policy "dead and buried before it started".
Speaking on the scrapped policy, the Labour chair said: "It was absolutely not working. The Rwanda scheme was a complete waste of money.
"There is no evidence to show it worked. It was proven to be a waste of money that the conservatives left a system in absolute chaos. So we've been clamping down on that."
She added: "The evidence is clear that it was not working. It was not functional. It was not compliant with law. We know it was a waste of money.
"The Rwanda scheme was not dealing with the root causes. That's what we've got to work to do, to work internationally, to tackle upstream the people trafficking, the gangs and make sure that we prevent people from getting here in the first place.
"Threatening to deport them to Rwanda after they're already in the country was not a deterrent. It was not going to work and was an absolutely colossal waste of money."
Anna Turley brands protests in Belfast 'horrifying'
Anna Turley is the chair of the Labour Party
|GB NEWS
Anna Turley, who is the chair of the Labour Party, condemned protests in Belfast and urged communities to come together.
Ms Turley told GB News: "It's horrifying to see the scenes that we've seen in Belfast overnight. Nobody wants to see a situation where the community is on fire, and children and families are being forced out of their homes. It's horrible. There is absolutely no excuse for that and we condemn it wholeheartedly.
"Of course, people were shocked by what they saw on Monday night, but that is not a reason to take to the streets and inflict violence on innocent people and to tear a community down.
"I urge everybody in both Belfast and around the country, thinking about any kind of disruption, to bring calm and to let us try and make sure our communities can stick together and come through this. Let the police and the courts do. They just do their work."
Addressing concerns on illegal migration, the Labour MP for Redcar added: "We hear those concerns loud and clear. You know, there is, of course, a separate conversation to be had about immigration and the complete chaos of the system we inherited.
"We have reduced immigration by 82 per cent. We've already deported 10,000 foreign national offenders. That's 10,000 criminals who are no longer on the streets of Britain to inflict any more harm on our society.
"We will continue to bear down on that, and we will continue to also make sure that we know who is coming into this country and make sure that our system is fair, secure, and that people in Britain are not at risk from illegal immigration."
The ‘back door’ migrant route into Britain
In November, North Antrim MP Jim Allister warned The People’s Channel that migrants could pass through the UK’s porous border with the Irish Republic, where they would enjoy protection from deportation under the Windsor Framework in the North.
He said the loophole would “drive coach and horses” through Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s pledge to get to grips with Britain’s migrant crisis.
Crossing from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland is easy, as there is no visible border.
Criminal networks were increasingly using the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland as an alternative smuggling route.
It comes after the Sudanese migrant who was charged with attempted murder appeared to fly from Paris to Dublin before crossing the open border into Northern Ireland and the UK, and then claiming asylum.
Fuller's boss blasts Rachel Reeves for 'unprecedented interference' as 100s of pubs close amid tax hikes
The boss of one of the UK's biggest pub chains has slammed Chancellor Rachel Reeves for carrying out "unprecedented interference" on the sector amid widespread pub closures.
Simon Emeny, the executive chairman of Fuller, Smith and Turner, has launched a scathing attack on the Labour government, accusing ministers of subjecting the pub industry to excessive taxation and regulatory burdens.
The pub boss holds these policies responsible for the closure of 5,800 pubs across Britain over the past decade.
He said: "When I reflect on the changes seen in our sector over the past 10 years, it has been a period of unprecedented government interference, additional taxes and regulations."
Alex Burghart accuses Rachel Reeves of 'dreaming up new ways of taxing the British people'
Alex Burghart, the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, has slammed Rachel Reeves after the Chancellor warned that Britons could be hit with higher taxes to pay for defence spending.
He told GB News: "Rachel Reeves wakes up in the morning every day and tries to dream up new ways of taxing the British people.
"I think we've all had enough of this. The fact of the matter is the government is spending far too much money. It's borrowing far too much money.
"Labour just needs to get a grip. This is absolutely disastrous for our finances. What we should be doing is getting welfare under control, getting welfare spending down, getting more people into work and that could free up money to spend on defence.
"We badly need that right now. The government has been dragging its heels on this for the past year."
'People are absolutely right to have concerns about mass immigration', Alex Burghart told GB News
Alex Burghart spoke to GB News breakfast
|GB NEWS
Alex Burghart told GB News: "People are absolutely right to have concerns about mass immigration. People are absolutely right to be able to go and protest about those things. But there is an enormous difference between protest and violence."
"What we saw last night was violence. We have to make sure that people in Northern Ireland have, much like people across the rest of the United Kingdom, a much greater say over immigration, and that they can be confident that there is going to be far less illegal immigration.
Speaking on the Sudanese migrant who was charged with attempted murder, Mr Burghart added: "He was in our country illegally. He should not have been here. He should have been deported under the plan that my party has now put forward. That's what would happen in future.
"But I completely understand why people are angry about this. But as I say, have to appeal to anybody watching. Do not get involved in violent protests. Do not burn people out of their homes. Do not set fire to public property. It will not make any situation better.
Reform sets sights on bagging triple election victory as Nigel Farage's party gears up for debut three seats
Reform UK has set its sights on bagging a triple election victory as Nigel Farage's party gears up for an electoral debut across three seats this Thursday.
All three of the wards are up for grabs for the first time since 2023, before Reform had the opportunity to throw its hat in the ring.
Now, three years later, residents in Christleton & Huntingdon (Cheshire), Apsley & Corner Hall (Hertfordshire) and Cippenham Green (Buckinghampshire) will be able to weigh in on the national debate all the way from their local ballot box.
Nationally, Reform continues to secure top favour with voters across the UK. This week, pollsters at YouGov forecast Mr Farage's party was due to receive 25 per cent of national votes at the next General Election.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill describes violence in Belfast as 'outright thuggery'
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has described scenes of violence in Belfast as “outright thuggery”.
In a social media post, Ms O’Neill said: “Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice.
“This has nothing to do with community. This is outright thuggery.
“The attack in North Belfast was heinous and wrong.
“But there are dangerous attempts to exploit that to target and attack innocent people who are simply trying to live, work and raise their families here.
“Racism, intimidation and violence are wrong wherever they occur.
“There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight.
“No one wants to see this on our streets and I again appeal for calm.”
Keir Starmer could SCRAP Royal Navy's new destroyers despite warnings Britain's safety 'in peril'
Sir Keir Starmer could scrap the next generation of Royal Navy destroyers | GETTYSir Keir Starmer could scrap the next generation of Royal Navy destroyers in his long-overdue defence plan.
The Prime Minister could delay - or drop - plans to build Type 83 destroyers, which would have replaced the Navy's ageing fleet of Type 45 destroyers between 2035 and 2038.
The plans have been put on the backburner amid a bitter funding row between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Treasury over Sir Keir's Defence Investment Plan (DIP).
A final decision on the new class of destroyer would be decided ahead of the long-delayed plan's publication - potentially Thursday - but officials are still negotiating what projects the Government will fund.
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