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He urged critics \u2013 including the former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt \u2013 not to \u201cunderestimate me when it comes to defending the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
A Tory defence source, when Mr Shapps was appointed, claimed the new Defence Secretary doesn\u2019t know the \u201cdifference between a tank and a fighter jet\u201d, adding that it would be \u201cbeyond bonkers\u201d for someone without military experience to hold the post.<\/p>\n
Mr Shapps hit back: \u201cLook, what the Ministry of Defence needs is highly experienced Cabinet ministers who can run a complex infrastructure-orientated department.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of experience of running very large budgets and complex departments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more <\/strong> The real reason Sunak put his ‘Swiss Army knife’ minister in charge of the MoD<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Shapps added that \u201conly two of the last 15 defence secretaries have had any military background\u201d. And he pointed out: \u201cWhat I do know is how to run the department.<\/p>\n \u201cSo don\u2019t underestimate me when it comes to defending the country or the department.\u201d<\/p>\n In his first media appearances since taking up the post, the Cabinet minister insisted he would fight for extra money for defence.<\/p>\n He said he wanted to \u201csee a higher defence budget\u201d, adding he \u201cfully\u201d supports increasing defence spending to 2\u00bd percent of GDP.<\/p>\n Mr Wallace had played a key role in galvanising international support to arm the Ukrainian military.<\/p>\n In a letter to PM Rishi Sunak after resigning from the Cabinet last week, he warned that \u201cover the next decade, the world will get more insecure and more unstable\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Wallace added: \u201cI know you agree with me that we must not return to the days where defence was viewed as a discretionary spend by government and savings were achieved by hollowing out.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he would be as vocal as Mr Wallace, Mr Shapps suggested he would lobby for higher spending but would \u201cdo it in my own way\u201d.<\/p>\n He pointed out defence spending was already on the rise, with the aim of it going up to 2\u00bd percent.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Mr Shapps said: \u201cI fully support that. I think it\u2019s very important that we are protected as a nation, but also that we\u2019re doing our part around the world to help the world be better protected.\u201d<\/p>\n But Mr Shapps was left red-faced by his lack of military knowledge yesterday.<\/p>\n He confused the Royal Navy with the Royal Air Force as he described the UK\u2019s aircraft carriers as being \u201cthe largest carriers the RAF has ever had\u201d. He also couldn\u2019t answer how many ranks there are in the British Army.<\/p>\n Lord Dannatt had said Mr Shapps knew \u201cvery little about defence\u201d, adding it would take him \u201cquite some time to get up to speed\u201d.<\/p>\n