‘I think it’s rubbish’: VE Day pilot pleads with veterans’ minister to double defence spending

104-year-old Second World War pilot Colin Bell criticised the government's proposed defence spending target, telling veterans minister Alistair Carns, “I think it’s rubbish.”

Mr Bell, who joined the RAF at 19 and carried out 50 bombing raids over Germany, urged immediate action, calling for defence spending to rise to 5 per cent of GDP as the country commemorated VE Day at 80 on Monday (5 May).

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP starting April 2027, aiming for 3 per cent in the following parliament. In response, Mr Carns called it “the biggest uplift in spending since the Cold War.”