LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that Europe is in a new period of instability that calls for a “generational response” and promised to increase UK defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027. The declaration was made just two days before Starmer is scheduled to visit the White House to try to convince US President Donald Trump to continue supporting NATO and Ukraine.
In the House of Commons, Starmer reminded members, “We must stand by Ukraine, because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability and threats to our security will only grow.” Defence spending in the UK is currently at 2.3 percent of GDP, while the government had previously established a 2.5 percent target without a deadline.
The hike equates to an extra 13.4 billion pounds ($17 billion) annually, Starmer informed legislators.
By 2035, he said, the objective is to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP. According to him, foreign development assistance will be cut from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of national income in order to fund it. Starmer claimed that his announcement was required because “tyrants like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin only respond to strength” and that it represented the “biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War.”
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