America’s defence secretary has sent a blunt message to Asian allies: pay more or risk losing the shield. Pete Hegseth, addressing a security summit in Tokyo, warned that the days of Washington carrying the burden alone are over. “Every nation must step up. This is not a request. It is a reality of the 21st century,” he said. The remarks have sent a jolt through capitals from Tokyo to Manila, where memories of US protection run deep. But for families in Sheffield or Sunderland, the question is not about Pacific firepower. It is about what this reordering means for the pockets of working people across Britain.
Let’s be clear. Hegseth’s language is a direct echo of the transactional approach now driving US foreign policy. Allies must boost defence spending to two per cent of GDP and beyond, he argued, or America will reconsider its “ironclad” commitments. This is not a new demand. Donald Trump made the same case, and the UK has long been lectured about its own shortfalls. But the timing is brutal. In the North of England, where steel mills once fed warships and factories churned out uniforms, the reality of higher defence costs will land on kitchen tables. If Britain must hike military budgets to keep Washington happy, the money has to come from somewhere. The NHS. Schools. Local services.
Union leaders are already scenting a raid on public spending. “Our members are not against defence, but they will not pay for it with their pay packets,” said a Unite official. Average wages in manufacturing have barely risen above inflation for a decade. In South Yorkshire, a steelworker told me last week: “They always find money for war, but not for fixing the roof on our canteen.” This is the real economy. The one that does not appear in think tank reports. It is about the cost of heating a home in Rotherham while politicians in Westminster argue over how many warships to buy.
The regional inequality angle is key. The defence industry is not spread evenly. It is concentrated in the South East, around ports and bases that have seen investment while former industrial towns decay. A new bomber or frigate means jobs in Barrow-in-Furness, but it also means cancelled contracts for NHS cleaners in Blackburn. Hegseth’s warning will accelerate a bidding war for scarce government cash. The Treasury is already squeezed. National debt is high. Social care is creaking. Every pound spent on a missile is a pound not spent on a care home.
And what of the British worker in all this? The message from Asia is that the old bargain is broken. The US is no longer willing to underwrite global security on the cheap. For decades, a stable world order kept supply chains open and energy prices manageable. Now, volatility is the new normal. That hits household spending directly. When Britain’s foreign policy is pulled by Washington’s demands, it is the wage earner in the Midlands who feels the pinch. Union reps at a major manufacturer told me this week that orders are down because of uncertainty. “No one knows what the Americans want next,” they said.
There is a deeper point here. Hegseth’s insistence on burden-sharing is a mirror of what working people already know: the system is rigged. The wealthy can move money offshore, but a mill worker cannot relocate to Silicon Valley. The call for higher defence spending is a call for sacrifice. But who will sacrifice? Not the shareholders of Lockheed Martin. Not the hedge funds. It will be the same people who were asked to tighten their belts after 2008. The same people who queued at food banks during the pandemic.
The UK must respond, but it must do so with eyes wide open. A stronger military does not automatically mean a stronger nation. A nation that cannot afford to feed its children or fix its leaking public toilets is not secure. Hegseth’s warning is a test. It is a test of whether Britain can stand up for its own priorities, or whether it will be dragged into a spending race that leaves ordinary people behind. The unions are watching. The North is watching. And the kitchen tables of Britain are waiting for an answer that does not ask them to pay the price again.
