UK to move on with army reductions - Times

The UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will press ahead with plans to reduce the British Army in size despite the Ukraine conflict and increased military spending. He announced plans to decrease the number of troops from 82,000 to just over 70,000, while cutting the number of tanks from 227 to 148. Despite these concerns, British ministers believe London is not under significant pressure to change course. A defense command paper is expected to be released in June. The UK government is planning to reduce the number of infantry personnel in favor of artillery due to the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

The defense budget is expected to swell by £5 billion over the next two years, with additional funds meant to replenish stocks of arms sent to Ukraine and modernize the nuclear arsenal. Western countries have also boosted their military budgets, with total military expenditure in Europe seeing the steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years.