UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the largest increase in defense spending since the Cold War, setting a goal to reach 2.5% of GDP by 2027. This statement was made during an emergency speech in Parliament before his trip to the US for talks with Donald Trump.
Starmer emphasized that the country is facing challenges that require large-scale solutions, affecting both industry and the daily lives of British citizens.
He revealed the largest increase in defense spending in many years, committing to allocate 2.5% of GDP to defense, with the goal of reaching that level by 2027. This means that from 2027, the UK will spend an additional £13.4 billion annually on defense. Including intelligence agency spending, the total could reach 2.6% of GDP.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister added that in the next Parliament, there may be a discussion about increasing defense spending to 3% of GDP.
In response to these changes, Starmer noted that the foreign aid budget would be reduced, dropping from the current 0.5% of GDP to 0.3% of GDP by 2027.
