By Paul Mason Fiscal rules must not outweigh our defence priorities – we are facing war and we should be spending like it, says Paul Mason Momentum is building for an increase in UK defence spending. Last week saw the launch of a cross-party “defence pledge”, calling on the government to raise the MOD’s budget from 2.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP next year, and to 3 per cent by the end of the decade. I support that call, but it’s not enough. That 2.5 per cent would put an extra £9bn on the defence budget and require either a penny on income tax or a penny on VAT to pay for it. To raise the…