Keir Starmer heads to Nato summit where he will vow to spend 5% of GDP on defence - but PM is accused of using 'smoke and mirrors' to 'con' Donald Trump
Sir Keir Starmer 's pledge to increase defence and security spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 was last night branded 'a con'.
The Prime Minister will unveil the promise at a Nato summit today, with the alliance's 31 other members also expected to sign up to it.
It will commit Britain to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence spending, such as troops and weapons, plus a further 1.5 per cent on security-related domestic infrastructure.
The summit comes after Sir Keir's meeting yesterday with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at No 10.
But critics pointed out that the pledge does not accelerate spending on core defence beyond what has already been promised by Labour.
By contrast, Germany said it would accelerate its spending to hit the core defence target by 2029 – six years early – amid growing global instability and the prospect of a war in the Middle East.
Sir Keir also faced questions about how the commitment would be paid for amid stagnant growth and the prospect of tax hikes this autumn.
The Royal United Services Institute, a leading defence and security think-tank, estimates hitting the target on core defence alone could cost an extra £40 billion a year.
Until now, the Government has pledged to increase core defence spending to 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2027. But under the Nato agreement, this will remain the same.
The 1.5 per cent of GDP spending on security-related domestic infrastructure would be hit by 2027.
However, Nato members effectively decide themselves whether they're hitting this part of the target and there are fears Labour will try to include items not strictly related to defence.
Downing Street sources said, for example, that it could include spending on beefing up energy security amid the switch to NetZero and fighting migrant-smuggling gangs.
Former defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace posted on X: 'Tomorrow at the Nato summit we will witness the UK Government trying to con the US and Nato with spin on defence spending.
'By folding in other departments' spending and with no real defence £ increases, the PM will claim 5 per cent.
'The threat to our country is real not spin. This Government thinks it can use smoke and mirrors to deceive the public and Donald Trump.
'This is an insult to our troops who will see no significant new money. It fools no one.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Starmer to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035 at Nato summit
The target, expected to be formally agreed by Nato countries at a summit in The Hague this week, includes spending 3.5% on 'core defence' and another 1.5% on 'resilience and security'. It represents a significant jump from the current 2% Nato target, and from the UK Government's aim of spending 2.5% of GDP on defence from 2027 and 3% at some point after the next election. But the figure is in line with the demands of US President Donald Trump, who has called for Nato allies to shoulder more of the burden of European defence. Ahead of his trip to the Netherlands, Sir Keir Starmer said the increased spending target was 'an opportunity to deepen our commitment to Nato and drive greater investment in the nation's wider security and resilience'. He said: 'We must navigate this era of radical uncertainty with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest to deliver security for working people and keep them safe.' The Government expects to spend 1.5% of GDP on resilience and security by 2027. The details of what counts towards that target are due to be set out during this week's summit, but it is likely to include spending on energy and border security as well as intelligence agencies. But increasing core defence spending to 3.5% will not happen until 2035, with at least two elections likely to take place before then. Nor would Downing Street say how the increase would be paid for, with a spokesman describing the figure as 'a projected target' that allies would review in 2029 when Nato carries out its next capability assessment. The Royal United Services Institute has estimated that increasing core defence spending to 3.5% by 2035 would cost £40 billion a year more than keeping the figure at 2.5%. Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the Tories welcomed the higher Nato target, but said the Government's commitment was 'both unfunded and a decade away, when the threat we face is real and imminent.' He said: 'The Chancellor failed to set a path to 3% in the spending review, and this is another announcement without a plan. 'Instead of using smoke and mirrors to inflate defence spending, Labour must get to 3% this parliament and back our country's defence with a fully funded plan.' Sir Keir's announcement came as the Prime Minister prepared to fly to the Netherlands for the two-day Nato summit against the background of both the war in Ukraine and escalating hostilities in the Middle East. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Sir Keir would continue to press for a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Iran crisis. He will also urge allies to help secure a 'just and lasting peace' in Ukraine by showing strength and providing Kyiv with 'the support it needs to defend itself against continued Russian aggression'. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to attend the summit, but not take part in the main discussions of the North Atlantic Council. Ahead of the summit, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte described the move to spend more on defence as a 'quantum leap' that would make the organisation 'a stronger, a fairer and a more lethal alliance'. But it was reported on Sunday that Spain had reached a deal that would see it exempted from the 5% target. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain would be able to keep its commitments to the 32-nation military alliance by spending 2.1% of GDP on defence needs. Tuesday will also see the publication of the UK's national security strategy, which is expected to call for the whole of society to become more resilient and recognise national security 'means more than it used to'. The document will tie together a series of reviews commissioned by the Government, including the recent strategic defence review, a review of the Aukus alliance with the US and Australia and an audit of relations with China.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Will the UK stay out of Trump's war in Iran?
Just a week ago, after a sit-down meal with Donald Trump at the G7 summit, Keir Starmer was telling reporters that 'nothing the president said suggests he's about to get involved in this conflict'. It seemed, and must have seemed to UK government officials too, that weeks of calling for de-escalation and diplomacy had paid off – that Donald Trump was not about to intervene in Israel's war in Iran. Then, on Saturday night, the US launched an enormous strike on three nuclear sites in Iran. Deputy political editor Jessica Elgot talks through Starmer and his government's response to the escalating crisis since. And Helen Pidd asks, given the UK's close relationship to the US, might it still be dragged into this conflict?
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
The Wargame podcast: Fictional British government faces a terrifying choice in final episode
Under yet another attack from Russia, a fictional British government of former ministers and military chiefs face a terrifying choice in the final episode of The Wargame. The home secretary, played by Amber Rudd, asks a key question. "We have the nuclear deterrent. In what circumstances would we use it prime minister?" Sir Ben Wallace, a former defence secretary who is playing the PM, offers his view - but is it one that is shared by the rest of his wartime cabinet? The British side is struggling to respond to mounting pressure from an imagined Kremlin in episode five of the Sky News and Tortoise podcast series, released on Tuesday. The Russian leam has unleashed waves of missile strikes and is demanding the UK agrees to an unconditional ceasefire. 28:54 NATO allies still not fully committed to rallying to help, the UK's options are dangerously limited. The dilemma exposes the particular peril for a nuclear-armed nation, such as Britain, that has allowed its conventional fighting power to shrink too far. It means, in a crisis, the UK no longer has the ability to sustain a fight conventionally, so escalating to nuclear war would have to happen far more rapidly - or else admit defeat. 4:35 Rebuilding conventional military capability and capacity as well as restoring wider national resilience, though, will be expensive. Whether or not the government and the public want to pay for this kind of conventional deterrence, well that's the big choice.
