First and deputy first ministers hit out at Reeves' Spring Statement

An increase in UK defence spending is part of a "macho agenda of militarization" Northern Ireland's first minister has said.

Michelle O'Neill was speaking after the chancellor used her Spring Statement to confirm an additional £2.2bn for the Ministry of Defence in the next financial year.

Rachel Reeves said the additional spending was needed to "secure Britain's future in a world that is changing before our eyes".

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said Reeves has chosen to punish those least able to take the burden.

Little-Pengelly said defence spending was a "necessity" but that she believed her decisions were "a consequence of a lack of economic growth".

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Related topics

  • Sinn Féin

  • Rachel Reeves

  • Michelle O'Neill

  • Northern Ireland

  • UK economy

  • DUP (Democratic Unionist Party)

  • Emma Little Pengelly