John Baron MP questions Foreign Secretary on hard and soft power funding

MP: British Council closures must not go ahead

Yesterday in the House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, gave a Statement on Ukraine.

John asked,

“Perhaps for too long, the West has harvested the peace dividend, but there is no doubt that we have entered a new era in the battle for democracy globally. May I urge my right hon. Friend to do what she can within Government not only to make the case for a sustained and substantial increase in defence spending, but to ensure that our soft power capabilities are adequately resourced, for the very simple reason that jaw-jaw should always be preferable to war-war?”

The Foreign Secretary responded that not enough had been spent on defence across the West whilst the Russians have built up their forces. She also said the Government is expanding its soft power, through the BBC and other outlets, and that she had no doubt John would make his views known to the Chancellor about increased hard and soft power funding.

John said,

“I welcome the admission from the Foreign Secretary that the West needs to spend more on defence, and that it is expanding its soft power capabilities. I have already written to the Chancellor calling for more hard and soft power spending, and also raised it with him when we last met.”

“I hope the Foreign Secretary’s response that we are expanding our soft power capabilities means that the Government has listened to the British Council APPG, which is concerned that a cut in the British Council’s budget may mean that up to 20 of its overseas offices may have to close. It is inconceivable that one of our primary tools of soft power would be pared back like this – it would be music to Mr Putin’s ears.”