Keir Starmer will promise to hike defence spending by billions more within the next decade – just months after his last big commitment.
As the world waits to see the outcome of US bombs dropped on Iran and Russia continues its years-long bombardment of Ukraine, the UK government is ramping up its military funding plans even further.
The Prime Minister is preparing to announce at today’s Nato summit in the Netherlands that 5% of GDP will be spent on national security.
That is expected to be split into 3.5% for core defence and 1.5% towards ‘resilience and security’, with a target of reaching those figures by 2035.
It comes less than four months after Starmer outlined a plan to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence each year from 2027 by gutting the UK’s international aid budget.
He also set out an aim of reaching 3% of GDP in the next parliament, expected to last from 2029 to 2034 – though the funding for that increase was less clear.
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Announcing the move in February, the PM described it as a ‘clear ambition’ which was ‘subject to economic and fiscal conditions’.
An additional 0.5% of GDP for defence over the same timeline could require heavy cuts to other areas of government spending.
Starmer said the latest announcement was responding to an ‘era of radical uncertainty’, adding it required ‘agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest’.
The PM said: ‘That’s why I have made the commitment to spend 5% of GDP on national security.
‘This is an opportunity to deepen our commitment to NATO and drive greater investment in the nation’s wider security and resilience.
‘After all, economic security is national security, and through this strategy we will bring the whole of society with us, creating jobs, growth and wages for working people – guided by my Plan for Change.’
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has been leading the charge on urging the leaders of nations in the military alliance to increase their defence spending to 5%.
In a speech to mark the start of the conference, he said: ‘As leaders begin to gather for the summit here, this is our focus – ensuring we have all we need to deter and defend against any threat.’
However, one country appears to be hoping for a carveout.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said last week he would not commit to increase spending to 5% of GDP.
Appearing on Spanish television at the weekend, he said: ‘We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defence investment, but we are not going to do so.’
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