NATO's 70th

Prime Minister Johnson has pleaded for unity on the eve of this week's NATO meeting in London. This is against the background of two forces moving to break NATO up. President Trump, no doubt echoing US strategic thinking that China is the greatest threat to the world order, not Russia, wants to cut his country's support for the transatlantic alliance. President Macron wants to see an end to NATO and its replacement with an EU defence force - the dispute over Syria may be real but it is symbolic of a deeper difference of opinion over the most effective defence of Europe.

I agree with the Liberal Democrat position that NATO should continue and be strengthened. It is not an alternative to the EU. We need both.

Adrian Kingston-Jones, our candidate for Neath in the general election, and I agree that more needs to be spent on conventional defence. In a recent speech, Chuka Umunna sees our contribution to NATO automatically rising with GDP if we clearly resolve to remain within the EU. I personally part company with them over the nuclear weaponry commitment, which I see as benefiting the US global reach but demonstrably of little effect in Europe. That budget could usefully be switched to boosting the personnel and equipment of our own armed forces. I accept that I am in a minority in the LD party in thinking this way, but the fact remains that money must be found in order to avoid defaulting on our existing commitment to NATO at the least, let alone adding the extra 1% called for by defence experts. This is going to be a struggle unless the Brexit jinn is put back in its bottle.