A curious time for parsimony from ‘best friend’ of Ukraine

Analysis: Downing Street's call for a reality check on defence spending comes at an unexpected moment

Flying to a Nato summit - at a time when there is a major war at the other end of Europe - is a curious time for Boris Johnson to be drawn into a row about defence spending, and whether a manifesto commitment has been broken.

The message from Downing St over the course of Tuesday was that a promise to increase defence spending by inflation plus 0.5% a year has become too expensive, with the cost of living at 9.1%, its highest rate in 40 years.