Keir Starmer hikes UK’s defence budget ahead of crunch meeting with Trump

London, Feb 25 (PTI) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday announced a hike in the country’s defence spending from 2.3 per cent of GDP to hit 2.5 per cent over the next two years, to be funded by cutting the UK’s foreign aid budget.

In a House of Commons statement days before he is scheduled for crunch talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday when the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be on top of their agenda, Starmer committed to an extra GBP 13.4 billion on defence every year from 2027.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that the European member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should be spending more on defence and not relying on America.

“Starting today, I can announce this government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War,” Starmer told Parliament.

“We will deliver our commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence but we will bring it forward so that we reach that level in 2027, and we will maintain that for the rest of this Parliament. Let me spell that out, that means spending GBP 13.4 billion more on defence every year from 2027,” he said.

The UK PM stressed that NATO is the “bedrock of our security and will remain so,” reiterating that the UK’s relationship with the US is its “most important bilateral alliance” – something he said he plans to convey to Trump during their talks.

“So this week when I meet President Trump I will be clear: I want this relationship to go from strength to strength. But strength in this world also depends on a new alliance with Europe... our commitment to European defence and security is unwavering, but now is the time to deepen it,” said Starmer.

Taking aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, he noted: “One of the great lessons of our history is that instability in Europe will always wash up on our shores, and that tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.

“Russia is a menace in our waters, in our airspace and on our streets. They have launched cyber-attacks on our NHS [National Health Service] – only seven years ago, a chemical weapons attack on the streets of Salisbury.

“We must stand by Ukraine – because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability, the threats to our security, will only grow... Putin thought he would weaken NATO; he has achieved the exact opposite,” he said.

The Labour Party leader went on confirm that the UK’s spending on overseas aid or development assistance will drop from 0.5 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to 0.3 per cent in 2027 because “at times like this, the defence and security of the British people must always come first; that is the number one priority of this government.” While he received the backing from Opposition Conservative Party benches, some of his own Labour MPs took to social media to express their dismay at the aid funding cut.

“The deep irony is that development money can prevent wars and is used to patch up the consequences of them, cutting this support is counterproductive and I urge the government to rethink,” Labour MP Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons International Development Committee, posted on X. PTI AK NPK NPK

Source: PTI