article_snippet: Britain's foreign aid budget is to be protected by law following a historic vote last night – but ministers still refused to protect funding for the armed forces.
article_snippet: Last night Tories lined up to lambast the move, saying it is wrong for aid spending to be protected when savage cuts to defence are expected after the election.
article_snippet: A defence think tank has warned that up to 30,000 members of the armed forces face redundancy over the next parliament.
article_snippet: David Cameron has repeatedly refused to pledge that funding for the military will be kept above the Nato target of at least 2 per cent of GDP.
article_snippet: The 2013/14 defence budget was £34.3billion – just over this 2 per cent target and down from £35.9billion in 2010/11, when the coalition took over.
article_snippet: By contrast, The 2013/14 defence budget has soared from £8.5billion in 2010 to £11.5billion in 2013 – the year that the 0.7 per cent of gross national income was reached for the first time.
article_snippet: Sir Gerald Howarth, the former Conservative defence minister, said aid spending should be cut to allow an increase in the defence budget – because Russia is increasing spending on arms and the Middle East is in flames.
article_snippet: This is not a time to be cutting our defence in any case.
article_snippet: More than 300 Tory backbenchers are expected to rebel on Thursday by forcing a Commons vote on enshrining the 2 per cent defence target in law.
article_snippet: Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘Most of my constituents would think ensuring the safety of Russia is of greater importance than meeting the overseas aid budget.
article_snippet: If the Government is prepared to accept that a percentage of gross national income should go toward a specific priority, it seems crazy that we can do this for overseas aid but not for defence.
highlights_snippet: Some Tories say it is 'idiotic' at a time when cuts are needed elsewhere .