Penny Mordaunt has pledged to make defense the “first duty” of government if she emerges victorious in the Conservative leadership race.
The Minister of Commerce and former Secretary of Defense advanced ahead of Secretary of State Liz Truss after the first round of voting by Conservative MPs, despite being seen as a relatively atypical one before the race began.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Ms Mordaunt vowed to honor the UK’s commitment to NATO to spend 2.5% of GDP on defense by 2030, as she said the UK must “endure- se “to the nation’s shared values of” strength, justice and decency. ” (i) the will to defend what is right. “
She wrote: “The defense of the kingdom is the first duty of any government.
“We will stand by NATO in defense of our common values and we will not back down from the hard graft and putting boots on the ground at the borders of the alliance.”
Mordaunt said he would maintain the UK’s position on the war in Ukraine, and stressed that Russia “must lose the war.”
“We must maintain our position in Ukraine. No territory can be ceded to Russia,” he said.
“While this will be difficult, we have to be honest with our people that we have to do it for our own safety.”