David Cameron set to tell EU to ‘step up’ defence spending and warn the West needs to adopt a ‘harder edge of a tougher world’

David Cameron will take a swipe at EU allies over defence today as he warns that the West needs to adopt a ‘harder edge for a tougher world’.

In his first major speech as Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron will call for Nato countries to match the UK’s target of spending at least 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence.

And he will warn that European allies need to be willing to step up militarily to defend Western values when they come under threat from hostile states such as Russia, China and Iran.

Lord Cameron will point out that the Ukraine crisis has shown that doing ‘too little, too late’ only emboldens aggressors such as Vladimir Putin.

He will single out the crisis in the Middle East, where only Britain and the United States have directly tackled efforts by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen to shut down shipping lanes vital to the West. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony in Moscow on May 7

‘We need to adopt a harder edge for a tougher world,’ he will say. ‘If Putin’s illegal invasion teaches us anything, it must be that doing too little, too late, only spurs an aggressor on.

‘I see too many examples in this job of this lesson not having been learnt.

‘Take the Red Sea, where ship after ship has been attacked. While many countries have criticised the Houthi attacks, it is only the US and Britain that have been willing and able to step up and strike back at them.

‘Or defence spend in Europe, where still some seem unwilling to invest, even as war rages on our continent.’

The Foreign Secretary will also warn that Western leaders need to be willing to speak out against vile practices such as female genital mutilation without being ‘cowed by accusations of colonialism’.

Following months of pressure from Tory MPs and defence experts, Rishi Sunak announced last month that the UK’s defence budget will be gradually increased to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade, putting it well ahead of the Nato minimum of 2 per cent.

Germany has committed to spending 2 per cent after years of low investment in defence, but numerous other countries remain below that level, including France, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pictured at a press conference in London earlier this month

Only five Nato states – Poland, the US, Greece, Estonia and Lithuania – spent more than 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence last year.

Britain will use a Nato summit in July to push for the minimum to be raised to 2.5 per cent to reflect growing threats faced by the West from authoritarian states.

In his speech today, Lord Cameron will say: ‘We are in a battle of wills. We all must prove our adversaries wrong – Britain, and our allies and partners around the world.

‘The upcoming Nato summit must see all allies on track to deliver their pledge made in 2014 to spend 2 per cent on defence. 

‘And we then need to move quickly to establish 2.5 per cent as the new benchmark. We need to out-compete, out-co-operate and out-innovate.’

The speech at the National Cyber Security Centre is one of two interventions he is expected to make today, going on to address the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet at Mansion House in the City of London.