The focus should be on how money is spent rather than on the ‘quantum’ of funding, Rachel Reeves said.
Rachel Reeves has signalled her unwillingness to raise taxes to pay for increased defence spending having already hiked the burden “substantially”.
The Chancellor said she “would prefer not to have to do that again”.
The Labour Cabinet minister also insisted she had “provided the biggest uplift of defence spending since the end of the Cold War”.
Ms Reeves argued the focus should be on how the money is spent rather than on the “quantum” of cash.
She made her comments after a prominent member of her own party and a former Nato chief accused the Government of “corrosive complacency” on military spending.
Former defence secretary Lord Robertson of Port Ellen led the Government’s strategic defence review, which looked at the threats Britain faced and the capabilities needed to meet them.
Speaking in Washington DC, where she is attending a summit of the International Monetary Fund, Ms Reeves said: “I’m proud to be the Chancellor that provided the biggest uplift of defence spending since the end of the Cold War.”
She pointed out she had taken money from the overseas development budget in order to increase defence spending.
Ms Reeves said: “National security always comes first, and I will always do the right thing as Chancellor to protect our country.”
She added: “The biggest beneficiaries of my spending review last year were the NHS budget and the defence budget. Both of those saw big uplifts reflecting the choices that we’re making as a government.
“We are working through the defence investment plan. It’s a 10-year plan, so it is important that we get it right and we’re spending the money on the right things.
“There’s a lot of focus on the quantum of the money, but actually what is more important is how that money is spent and whether it is meeting the defence needs that we have as a country, and we’re working through that detail at the moment.
“I think people have seen that I’m willing to make difficult choices and sort of challenge the orthodoxy through what I did last year to realise more money for defence.”
Ms Reeves said: “Obviously, we’re working through a range of options, but my two budgets have both increased taxes substantially, and I would prefer not to have to do that again.”
Pointing out the current Iran conflict had increased the cost of Government borrowing, she said: “We already spend one in every £10 of what Government spends on servicing the debt.
“And if we increase that debt further, we’d only be increasing how much we’re spending.”
She went on: “Actually this also informs my response to the conflict in Iran.
“The previous government had a sort of blanket approach to support. As a result, the top third of households received more than a third of the total support.
“But that support wasn’t cost-free for those families, because it resulted in higher inflation, higher interest rates, and ultimately higher taxes to repay it.
“So I think the best way to help families in Britain and help businesses as well is to do everything I can to keep prices, costs and interest rates down, which is why I’ve been really clear this week my objective in Washington is to make the case with de-escalation of this conflict.”
