LEADING Labour warhawk George Robertson demanded that Britain spend still more still faster on the military as Nato leaders gathered for a summit in Ankara.

Lord Robertson, a former defence secretary and Nato chief, slammed outgoing premier Sir Keir Starmer for not spending enough in his Defence Investment Plan launched last week.

He told a committee of MPs that Sir Keir could expect a frosty reception in Ankara as he arrives for his final appearance as Prime Minister on the international stage.

“The Prime Minister is in Ankara today at the Nato summit and he’ll be sitting tomorrow morning beside President Trump in alphabetical order around the North Atlantic Council table, and I think relations may well be quite frosty,” Lord Robertson said.

“The allies round the table who are all stepping up to the mark, and who are all now spending more on defence, and of course some of the bigger countries, like Germany and Poland, are spending considerably more than we are spending.”

He said the plan, which provoked the resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey, did not measure up to the purported threats Britain faced, and that the delay in producing it had seen arms companies go bankrupt whilst waiting.

Present Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte opened the summit today by listing the new hardware the war alliance will be purchasing in the near future. 

He has claimed that the spending boom is supporting nearly 200,000 jobs in the US as he continues his efforts to ingratiate Nato with US President Donald Trump.