Sir Keir Starmer will cut the UK’s foreign aid budget in order to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.
The Prime Minister said the Government will deliver the “biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War” but it can only be funded by diverting resources from elsewhere.
He also announced a new “ambition” to see defence spending rise to 3 per cent of GDP in the first half of the next decade.
Sir Keir told the House of Commons: “In the short term it can only be funded through hard choices and in this case that means we will cut our spending on development assistance, moving from 0.5 per cent of GNI today to 0.3 per cent in 2027, fully funding our increased investment in defence.”
The Prime Minister said the increase would see an extra £13.4 billion spent on defence every year from 2027. The UK currently spends approximately 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence.
The announcement comes just days before Sir Keir is due to travel to the US for crunch talks with Donald Trump.
The US president has repeatedly stated his belief that Nato countries in Europe should be spending significantly more on defence.
Sir Keir had been under growing pressure to increase spending due to a decision made by Mr Trump to pivot the US away from European defence.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
