CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves’s £2 billion boost to arms companies under the pretence of “driving growth” were dismissed as “nonsense” by campaigners today.

Visiting Rosyth Naval Dockyard in Fife today, Ms Reeves announced an increase UK Export Finance (UKEF) lending capacity, from £8bn to £10bn, in a bid to boost sales of British-made missiles, aircraft and armoured vehicles on the international market.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calls for a “reshaping” of the economy towards arms production. The government aims to ramp up military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, while taking an axe to the international development budget and threatening to wipe billions from social security funding.