Russian ‘menace’ prompts UK defense spending uplift to 2.5 percent GDP by 2027
Though he did not share how the new funding will be spent, the announcement comes just days before Starmer visits US President Donald Trump in Washington, and appears to be carefully timed to demonstrate the UK is leaning forward to meet Trump’s demand that Europe does more to protect its own security.
F-35B fighter jets from the UK Carrier Strike Group launch from the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to undertake sorties under NATO command in the Atlantic (UK MoD)
BELFAST — In a bid to counter Russia’s “menace,” UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer announced today that British defense spending will be increased to 2.5 percent GDP by 2027.
Addressing lawmakers, Starmer also pledged to raise the bar further by committing to a 3 percent GDP target by 2034. Britain currently spends around 2.3 percent GDP on its military.
The new spending plan, funded by foreign aid cuts, marks the “biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War,” according to Starmer. In simple terms, London will spend an additional £13.4 billon ($17 billion) annually on defense from 2027.
At a strategic level, Starmer said that “we must stand with Ukraine” because if a “lasting peace” is not secured, then economic problems and security threats “will only grow.”
He was also clear eyed about Russia’s continued threat. “Russia is a menace in our waters, in our airspace and on our streets,” Starmer commented. “They have launched cyberattacks on our NHS [National Health Service]. Only seven years ago, [carried out] a chemical weapons attack on the streets of Salisbury [England].”
Though he did not share how the new funding will be spent, the announcement comes just days before Starmer visits US President Donald Trump in Washington, and appears to be carefully timed to demonstrate the UK is leaning forward to meet Trump’s demand that Europe does more to protect its own security. Starmer had long planned to put forward a “path” to spending 2.5 percent GDP on defense in the spring.
The UK is the third European country to announce new modernization or spending increases, behind France and Denmark, since Trump pivoted toward Russia by labelling Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and forecasting that “he is not going to have a country left.”
Amid transatlantic security relations plagued by disharmony, Starmer pleaded for differences to be set aside.
“We must reject any false choice between our allies, between one side of the Atlantic or the other,” he said. “That is against our history, country and party, because it’s against our national interest. The US is our most important bilateral alliance. It straddles everything from nuclear technology to NATO to Five Eyes [intelligence sharing pact] AUKUS and beyond.”
Such a resounding endorsement of the so-called UK-US “special relationship” differs, however, with a political reality that has seen Washington exclude Europe and Ukraine from peace talks with Russia. At odds with the US position on peace negotiations, Starmer said “we must ensure” Ukraine negotiates “their future.”
Other issues between the UK and the US remain outstanding. UK Defence Secretary John Healey said last week that a security “backstop” linked to a peace settlement is required because “only the US” is capable enough of stopping Russia from launching another attack on Europe.
Starmer is expected to raise the backstop idea with Trump directly this week. The British leader has also said he is prepared to deploy UK troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, should a peace agreement be struck.
“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,” said Starmer.
He added that European nations will “find new ways to work together on our collective interests and threats, protecting our borders, bringing out companies together, seeking out new opportunities for growth.”
Echoing Trump’s messaging, Starmer said, “European allies must step up and do more for our own defense.”
Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS Group, a UK aerospace and defense trade body that represents over 1,400 prime manufacturers, subsystem suppliers and small- and medium-sized enterprises, told Breaking Defense in a statement that the 2.5 percent spending announcement “does deliver on the long-term demand indication that allows us to do what we do best: deliver capabilities that are needed to uphold our security, in a way that delivers value for money to the citizens we are here to protect. This clear signal from Government today is very welcome.”
The UK is expected to publish a strategic defense review in the coming months, which will focus on strategic priorities and equipment planning, but it faces financial difficulties arising from a £16.9 billion deficit between weapons requirements and its military budget, as revealed in a MoD 10 year equipment plan [PDF].
