Penny Mordaunt said the UK is “still holding back on defence spending” and needs to go further in order to deter Russia when she appeared on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 9 March.
Asked by host Laura Kuenssberg if the West had underestimated Russia for a long time, the former Defence Secretary said, “I always argued that we need to be doing more to bolster our defences.”
“We’re still holding back on defence spending. It will be a hard price to pay, but if we don’t do this now, the price we will pay in years to come will be unbearable,” Ms Mordaunt added.
