Boris Johnson seeks to defuse row over abandoning defence spending pledge

PM insists manifesto promise of above-inflation increase will be kept despite Downing Street reality check' briefing

Boris Johnson faces a potential rift with senior ministers and generals at the start of a vital Nato summit in Madrid, after Downing Street indicated it would ditch a key manifesto commitment on defence spending.

In a chaotic sequence of events, a senior government source said there needed to be a reality check" on the pledge to increase the defence budget each year by 0.5% above inflation, only for Johnson to try to argue it would be achieved.