David Cameron issues dire warning over Russia, China and North Korea as he hits out at European leaders

David Cameron hit out at European leaders who are ‘unwilling’ to raise defence spending

David Cameron has warned the world is more “dangerous, volatile and confrontational” than it’s been for generations as he sounded a warning over Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

The Foreign Secretary said the four states are acting together to undermine the world order – saying in a major speech that Western states must show “courage”. He said: “If we hesitate our adversaries will write our future for us. So we need to show courage.”

Lord Cameron hit out at European governments who haven’t upped defence spending in the light of new dangers. He said: “The nations closest to Russia are seeing what is happening in Ukraine and wondering if they will be next. And not far from Europe war rages in the Middle East as Israel defends itself and tries to bring the hostages home. Innocent citizens in Gaza endure a crisis that will only worsen if aid cannot reach them safely. And all this while there are at least 18 conflicts underway in Africa.

“This is a world more dangerous, more volatile, more confrontational, than most of us have ever known.”

His speech came hours after US President Joe Biden vowed to stop supplying bombs and artillery to Israel if it launches a ground assault on Rafah. Asked about the move, Lord Cameron played down British arms sales and refused to make a similar pledge.

But he said the UK wouldn’t support a “major” Israeli assault if there is no clear plan to protect civilians. He said: “We are clear that we would not support some major operation in Rafah unless there was a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives, and all the rest of it. We have not seen that plan, so in the circumstances we will not support a major operation in Rafah.”

Lord Cameron said the UK supplies a fraction of the arms to Israel that the US does. He stated: “There’s a very fundamental difference between the US situation and the UK situation. The US is a massive state supplier of weapons to Israel. We do not have a UK Government supply of weapons to Israel, we have a number of licences, and I think our defence exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1% of their total. That is a big difference.”

He described the conflict in Gaza as “wholly different” to the war in Ukraine, stating: “Yes, the suffering in Gaza is appalling, but an unprovoked war against an independent country like Ukraine that poses no threat, is wholly different from the conflict that has grown from the brutal attacks of October 7. And in each case, we are consistently pursuing the fastest route to sustainable peace, consistent with the principles of the UN. Charter.”

Lord Cameron warned that authoritarian states are joining forces, presenting a greater danger to the West. He said: “An axis of authoritarian states like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China is increasingly working together in an attempt to undermine us, our allies and the world order.”

He called on NATO allies to stick to an agreement made a decade ago, when he was PM, to commit to spending 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence. After that they will have to make 2.5% the new “benchmark”.

The frontbencher said: “We need to adopt a harder edge for a tougher world.” He went on: “Take the Red Sea, where ship after ship from a whole host of countries have been attacked. While many countries have criticised the Houthis, it is actually only the US and Britain that have been willing to step up to strike back. Take defence spending in Europe, which still some seem unwilling to invest, even as war rages on.”