UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that the country will raise its defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – up from the current 2.3%. The decision was taken to address new security challenges in Europe.
“This government will implement the most significant prolonged increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War,” Keir Starmer told the House of Commons.
The increase will be at the expense of the UK’s international development aid budget, which will decrease from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP over the same period, he added.
The announcement comes two days before Starmer’s visit to Washington, where he is set to meet President Donald Trump, who has been urging Europeans to boost their contributions to NATO.
Starmer also stated his intention to develop a strategy to raise the defence budget to 3% of GDP “during the next legislature”, starting from 2029. “We are in a world where everything has changed” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he said.
“The nature of warfare has significantly altered. This is evident on the battlefield in Ukraine, so we must modernise and reassess our capabilities.” He reiterated the UK’s support for Ukraine against Russia.
“We must support Ukraine because if we fail to achieve lasting peace, economic instability and security threats will only grow,” Starmer declared.
