IT IS OF immense concern that the British government has succumbed to the demands of the Trump administration and agreed to increase military spending from 2 to 2.5 per cent of GDP in 2027 and then to 3 per cent in the next parliament.

This at a time when poverty is rising and deepening in Britain with one in three children and a quarter of adults living in poverty. So far, our government has not taken measures to alleviate these conditions and indeed attacks on welfare are set to continue.

Already, most pensioners have lost the winter fuel allowance and the two-child limit on benefits remains in place. Disabled people are being threatened with £5 billion cuts. Inflation is threatening to rise again under the pressure of water, energy and other costs under conditions where the level of wage rises are already falling. This will hit all workers, and particularly lower-paid ones. And government funding to tackle climate change is minimal.