SENIOR Tory MPs were accused yesterday of trying to fool the electorate by using the rapid growth of China’s military ambitions to rationalise plans for extortionate defence spending.

Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth claimed the world is becoming “increasingly dangerous” with “turmoil” in the Middle East and threats supposedly posed by Russia, North Korea and Iran.

He proposed that Britain needs to spend at least 2 per cent of national income on the army and navy to also counter China, which Mr Howarth claimed was “causing concern” in its “relentless colonising” of the South China Sea over several years.

Former army colonel MP Bob Stewart added to the scaremongering after he said that China implemented a “dedicated cyber-warfare division” and training exercises that simulate “attacks against the West.”

It was also “alarming” that China’s annual defence spending is increasing 10 per cent year-on-year, now at £94 billion, according to Conservative former cabinet minister Cheryl Gillan.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said it “beggars belief” that the MPs are “desperate to maintain military spending” when many British people are struggling, particularly those in work who face losing out on tax credits from next April.

Nato has already projected defence spending for Britain to be £39bn in 2015-16, which already works out to 2.08 per cent of public funds.

The MPs raised their worries about China and voiced their backing for the Defence Expenditure (Nato Target) Bill as a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping draws to a close.

Ms German added: “These MPs are those who only this week voted to cut tax credits, which would cost millions of people at least £1,000 a year and have supported cuts to NHS spending, education, welfare benefits and vital local authority services such as libraries.”

She continued: “Britain does not need more defence spending, it already has the biggest army in Europe, and is raising spending at the behest of Nato, which is embarked on an increasingly aggressive path.

“We should not be fooled into thinking this is about protecting us — it is about making the world a more dangerous place.”