Luke Pollard said the Armed Forces keep us safe but admitted we need 'to increase the amount of abilities they have' after years of being underfunded under the Tories

A Defence minister was tied in knots in a TV interview when he had to be asked four times whether Britain is "safe" before he gave a straight answer.

In a chilling response to the question, Luke Pollard said the UK is facing "new threats" and initially refused to say whether the public is safe from them.

After being repeatedly asked, the minister eventually said that "we are safe" but again emphasised that the country is living in a new era of threats. He said the Armed Forces keep us safe but admitted we need "to increase the amount of abilities they have" after years of being hollowed our and underfunded under the Tories.

It comes as MPs today issued a stark warning about Britain's ability to fight a war and meet its NATO obligations in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The cross-party Commons Defence Committee said there is an "over-reliance" on the US and called for the public to be given more information about the scale of the threat and the response that is required.

Asked if he agreed with the MPs' warning - and whether the British public is safe - Mr Pollard told Sky News: "Well, we're living in a new era of threats. I think, broadly, what the Defence Select Committee set out today chimes perfectly with where we set out the threats facing us in the Strategic Defence Review that we published a few months ago, that set out that we're facing new threats, new challenges, from our adversaries who are increasingly working together, that we need to learn the lessons from Ukraine.

"That means retiring old equipment, bringing new equipment that would deter and defeat aggression if necessary. And it also means moving at pace to end the hollowing out and underfunding of our armed forces that we saw in the last government.

"That's why, since we've taken up with increased defence spending, £5billion extra in our budget this year, every year ahead of us for the next decade, increasing amount of defence spending, a desire and a commitment to spend more of that money with British businesses and to refill our stockpiles."

Pressed again whether the public is "safe", Mr Pollard repeated: "Well, we live in a new era of threats." Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge interrupted to say he wasn't answering the question.

After being asked it again, he said: "The men and women of Armed Forces keep us safe, but because we live in a new era of threat, which means there are new threats facing the United Kingdomwhich we set out very clearly in the Defence Review..." Sophy cut in again to clarify whether this means the public is safe.

Mr Pollard replied: "We are safe, but we are facing new threats. Both of those can be true at the same time." He said the UK needs to invest in new technologies, adding: "We can see the way that war is now being fought differently in Ukraine than perhaps we have prepared for in the past."

He added to Times Radio that the Government is "hoping" that six new munitions and energetics factories will be operational before the next election. Pressed on whether he wanted it to move faster, Mr Pollard said: "Of course. I'm an impatient so-and-so, I want to see us move at pace, as is the Defence Secretary."