Lib Dem

In response to Jones's comments in Parliament on Tuesday, Tice said the "woke weakness from Lib Dem and Labours MPs is a national embarrassment".

The government should also distribute pamphlets to make sure every British home is "war-ready" and able to deal with blackouts and chaos caused by the outbreak of conflict or cyber-attacks, Lib Dem Leader Sir Ed Davey said.

The proposed Lib Dem scheme would be limited to 3,000 personnel, including new recruits and re-enlistees, with its £60m cost covered by the main defence budget.

Darren Jones made the comment after Lib Dem David Chadwick said the cash - some of which will be spent over a decade - was "insulting".

With each annual pension credit claim costing the government £3,900 a year on average, the former Lib Dem pensions minister Steve Webb has calculated that the total annual cost of these new claims could be about £234m.