UK vows to increase defense spending ahead of US visit
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged on Tuesday to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of the economy by 2027, with the goal of raising it to 3 percent in the following parliament.
Ahead of key talks on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, Starmer told parliament the increase would be funded by cutting overseas development aid from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of the economy, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Trump has demanded that NATO allies more than double their defense spending targets to five percent of economic output.
The U.K. spent 2.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in 2023/24.
Starmer's Labour government had previously committed to increasing defense spending to 2.5 percent, but had not set a timeline.
He told lawmakers there would be some "hard choices" but it would be the "biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War".
The government would also "set a clear ambition for defense spending to rise to 3 percent of GDP in the next parliament," he said.
Trump has repeatedly called on European nations to boost their defense spending.
"The nature of warfare has changed significantly. That is clear from the battlefield in Ukraine, and so we must modernise and reform our capabilities as we invest," Starmer said.
"This investment means that the U.K. will strengthen its position as a leader in NATO and in the collective defense of our continent, and we should welcome that role".
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