DAVID Cameron has rejected a Hampshire MP’s protest that looming cuts to defence spending threaten the nation’s security.

Dr Julian Lewis, the New Forest East MP, joined a Tory backbench protest against the likely dropping of a pledge to set aside two per cent of GDP for defence.

He warned it could see the Army slashed to just 50,000 regular troops, which “would be a terrible signal to send to President Putin”.

Daily Echo: Julian Lewis.

Quizzing the Prime Minister in the Commons, Dr Lewis called on Mr Cameron to commit Britain not to fall below the NATO recommended minimum of two per cent of GDP on defence spending.

Daily Echo:

But, in reply, Mr Cameron ducked the challenge, merely repeating that his Government was meeting the two per cent target “this year and next year”.

He told Dr Lewis: “He has very specific guarantees about a full replacement for Trident, a £160bn equipment programme that will go up in real terms each year and no further reductions in regular personnel in our armed forces.

“I think those are bankable assurances, which will resonate on the doorsteps as he goes house to house.”

The two per cent figure is expected to be missing from the Conservative manifesto, with the Ministry of Defence tipped to receive only a “flat cash” settlement if the Tories win.

  

Experts say that could see defence spending slipping to just 1.7 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.